I mean, the guy went from ardent critic, to fawning lapdog, and then when rejected back to ardent critic, so it’s hard to have much respect for that.
I’ve seen him speak in person, and he’s quite entertaining, I will give him that.
It’s impossible to have any respect for Christie at all. He’s disgraced himself so many times, I’m amazed he shows his face in public any more, but that’s what passes for “respectable” in the GOP these days, a guy who left his job with 13% approval rating from voters in his state blustering his way back into the polls, now managing 1% in the GOP polling.
To be clear, no way I will be voting for Christie or ANY Republican in 2024. However, I just watched most of his townhall on CNN tonight and I have to say I would love to see him get on the debate stage with DJT. As much as I dislike the man I will say I view him as far less of a threat to our country than 45. He’s not a demagogue or authoritarian from what I know. Most of what I like about him is that he’s a GOP candidate who is not a lapdog for the crazies. It seems to me Hutchinson is the only other one who sees the threat Trump poses to the country.
Again, not in any way rooting for this guy. I will without doubt be voting for Biden or whoever the D nominee ends up being. Still, Christie could bring some fun to the primaries.
Christie’s appeal is that he’s articulate, sometimes clever, occasionally witty, and he comes off as a straight talker. This somewhat disguises the fact that he is a bully, he always comes off as the smartest person in the room even when he’s the dumbest, and he’s more concerned with his own image than he is with particular issues. He’s a pol, plain and simple, and an effective one, but he’s not a particularly skilled officeholder or publlc servant. Don’t let him con you.
If Republicans pick a candidate with experience as governor, it should be Doug Burgum of North Dakota, who’s officially in the race too. He’d make history as the first President with multiple personalities. From ABC News:
"“The reason we wanted to run for president is simple. We think there’s an opportunity with the federal government focusing on what the federal government is supposed to do … improve the lives of every American,” (Burgum) said.
We are impressed.
Hey, it’s entirely possible that Burgum identifies as non-binary! /s
Of the people currently running on that side, he is the most coherent and has, you know, called out Trump for everything he is.
He has no chance. I would probably vote for every single Democratic governor, Senator, and Representative instead of Christie, but he is at least somewhat rational.
The fact that a Republican being mostly sane is seen by some as the savior of the GOP is telling.
I just want to give this the credit it’s due. Nice one!
Does Burgum want to be royal or something? What is that about??
Many books will be written about today’s Republcian party and what the heck happened. I guess they were suppressing and masking a lot of hate and bitterness and Trump kind of just tapped into that and now it is the only thing left.
2012 wasn’t that long ago and Mitt Romney ran. He would never get the bid now.
In Michigan, we had both John Engler and Rick Snyder as governor, both conservative Republicans. Both voted against and spoke out against Trump.
Neither could be nominated for governor of Michigan today.
I don’t see this as being “the savior” of the party, but it’s absolutely the first step that needs to be taken to start saving the party.
But will anyone take that step and avoid alienating the MAGA base? How?
While I agree that Susan Collins is out of the question now with her annus horribilis culminating with her vote for Kavanaugh, what about Lisa Murkowski, senator out of Alaska? Has Christine Todd Whitman been out of the game too long to be considered viable for President?
As for Republican governors the list is short. Possibly Chris Sununu (NH), Joe Lombardo (NV), and Eric Holcomb (IN). They seem willing to reach out across the aisle. But if you want a true Republican moderate, then you have Phil Scott (VT).
So there you go, somewhere between 2 and 5 Republicans that any Dem should be thrilled is President given that a Pub is in the White House.
Well, the “Who” would seem to be Christie. He’s stepping up to denounce Trump. Will it work? Who knows?
The “How” is a much harder question. On the one hand, they’ve alienated so many voters, it will take them decades to reestablish trust. This means they’re likely going to lose elections for a long time, since anyone trying to fix the party will also alienate a significant number of their current voters.
Basically, the GOP has to be okay with a decade or two of being the US equivalent of Canada’s Federal New Democratic Party: satisfied with a perpetual role in opposition, with the hope that they can occasionally influence government policy. That’s the part I can’t see any US politicians being willing to accept, but I also can’t see any other way for the GOP to actually wash the stink off of themselves.
Given my druthers, I’d like to see the party just dissolve in a puff on infighting, and be replaced by something completely new, but with the entrenched two party system, where that means “Democrats and Republicans”, there’s really no way that will happen. Some party will be the legal heirs of this current mess, and be called “Republicans”, no matter what. How we make that party a responsible and sensible party is the tricky question.
Off-topic Trumpism again, Hidden by WE?
“Death” is literally at the root of “How?” Trump dying becomes a game-changer for the MAGA crowd. They will be free to attach themselves to a new champion, but not before that point.
The other death is their own. A generation or two down the line, loyalty to Trump will cease to be a measure of rightwing thinking. But that’s a long ways off.
Off-topic Trumpism again, Hidden by WE?
Trump may die, but will Trumpism?
Yes, but the question is, will that new champion move them towards sanity, or towards even more crazy?
The GOP has been aware for years that their actual policies are largely unpopular with the general electorate, but their solutions have been, “Well, we’re obviously not crazy enough yet! If we just get a little bit crazier, we’ll finally breakthrough to them!”
The problem is, they need to break that cycle. But even in breaking it, it will take them years to convince people they’ve changed, and all those years of losing will make the crazy people say, “SEE? We told you being sensible wouldn’t work!!!”
A Republican president is not a dictator who can issue decrees to suit their whims, much as the party would like it to be.
Republican presidents run the executive branch, control foreign policy, are the CinC of the military, work with Congress, appoint judges, all before breakfast. That puts Republicans into the heart of every aspect of daily life, and therefore Republican ideas and policies into every aspect of daily life, with consequences that may live on for decades or even generations.
Hidden as off-topic hijack, I missed it earlier. {WE?}
The party itself is toxic. Members have no morals, no spines, no policies, and no compassion. The most important task for non-Republicans in the year ahead is to teach people that no Republican should be elected to any position at any level in any location at any time. That is orders of magnitude more important for the Presidency.
I repeat: We’re so far past the point at which any Republican in the known universe can be mentioned in the same sentence as President
Hidden as off-topic hijack
The last thing I want is the GOP to be saved, it is a violent racist movement. I don’t want is saved any more than I want Al Qaeda saved.
Hidden as off-topic hijack
Agreed. Today’s GOP has not only jumped the shark, it’s leap-frogged over the whole shiver. They are, as I’ve mentioned before (and, perhaps, others may have said so, also) nothing but a domestic terrorist organization.