# So, we should get used to saying "President Christie?" Yea or nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 21, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448 "2013-11-21T17:12:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/301 "2014-01-09T20:37:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > If you would completely generalize this, you’d be much more accurate. [I did that last summer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=700971). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/302 "2014-01-09T21:08:40Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [I did that last summer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=700971). Heh…I hadn’t remembered that you were the one who started that (very entertaining) Pit thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alzarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@Alzarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alzarian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/303 "2014-01-09T21:12:32Z")
Could someone explain to me why the majority of New Jersey voters picked Christie over the Democratic candidate? Was his opposition so bad that Christie seemed a viable alternative? This utterly confuses me, as I would think the Democratic party would have an edge in winning a state like New Jersey… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/304 "2014-01-09T21:15:07Z")
He’s popular, and the best Democratic candidates decided they didn’t want to run against him. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/305 "2014-01-09T21:26:26Z")
I think the initial perception was that he might be a bully to “the others”, but that he looked out for his own, that is to say, the people of his state. This bridge thing, though, could really hurt that, since it’s “his own” who were targeted. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/306 "2014-01-09T21:41:51Z")
Name recognition could have played a part as well. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/307 "2014-01-09T22:17:42Z")
This whole thing is just so stupid it boggles the mind. Blocking bridge lanes is no way to punish a political enemy. It’s just stupid. The way you punish the mayor of Fort Lee, is every time he comes to Trenton with hat in hand wanting some new project or whatever for his town, you tell him to pound sand. Eventually, he gets voted out of office because he can’t deliver any good stuff for his constituents. Tying up traffic for a few days (albeit massively)? Just not going to do it. It just annoys people. The whole point of sticking it to someone is making sure they know you’re sticking it to them. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/308 "2014-01-09T22:38:38Z")
> [@Alzarian](#): > > Could someone explain to me why the majority of New Jersey voters picked Christie over the Democratic candidate? Was his opposition so bad that Christie seemed a viable alternative? This utterly confuses me, as I would think the Democratic party would have an edge in winning a state like New Jersey… He’s been a much better Governor than several of our prior Governors. [Jon Corzine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Corzine) is a crooked Billionaire that was a complete joke of a Gov. Recently lost billions for investors in his post Governor’s job and seems to have got away with it. [Jim McGreevey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_McGreevey) resigned in disgrace. Sex scandal and blackmail along with being a truly terrible Governor. By comparison Christie did a good job during Sandy, bucked the Republican party and told off Faux News. He’s made a lot of unpopular decisions to help the budget crisis and kept NJ from being a disaster during the great recession. He is kind of a Jersey guy, even those embarrassed by some of his tirades, will acknowledge he is as much NJ as Mayor Koch was NYC. Now I say all this as someone who did not vote for him either time. I vote for Buono though I knew she had no chance and the first time I voted for an Independent, [Chris Daggett](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Daggett), an actually moderate Republican with a great record on Green Issues as I did not like Christie and hated Corzine. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/309 "2014-01-10T02:40:45Z")
> [@](#): > > to the best of my knowledge, no one was fired by the administration for their involvement in this so-called scandal. Bridget Kelly was fired. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/310 "2014-01-10T04:46:52Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > DO try to keep up. [Liberal groups were targeted, too.](http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/18/politics/irs-scandal/) That was some nice spin by the administration’s hand-picked guy, but no. Progressive groups were supposed to be looked at by the Cincinnati office, but Tea Party applications had to be sent to DC. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/311 "2014-01-10T04:50:30Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > But not at the time, somehow. There’s a lot we’re not going to know until the investigation is over, and even then we don’t know who’s going to tell the whole truth. It’s so easy for the guy at the top to maintain plausible deniability. Punishment of political opponents has never been directly ordered by the executive unless it’s a Huey Long type running a virtual dictatorship anyway. Underlings know who the enemies are and they know how to punish them. And they know how to keep their boss out of the loop. But in the end, the guy at the top has to be responsible. He’s the one accountable to the voters. If we allow non-elected officials to do what they want without facing accountability, while also excusing the elected offiicals because they didn’t know, then democracy is dead. We end up with an unaccountable government that cannot be controlled. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/312 "2014-01-10T06:03:59Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > You’ve got Rubio, Ryan, Paul, and Cruz as alternatives. Maybe they need to draft Romney for another go. This is just the break the Coolidge campaign has been waiting for! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/313 "2014-01-10T06:16:13Z")
John McCain! But seriously, plenty of viable governors: Walker, Jindal, Kasich, many others less well known but certainly serious enough. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/314 "2014-01-10T07:08:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Walker, Jindal, Kasich, Talk about charisma. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/315 "2014-01-10T07:30:26Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Talk about charisma. Schweitzer, now there is a guy with personality, he liked to veto bills with a branding iron. Oh, wait, you mean a _republican_, sorry, nm. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/316 "2014-01-10T08:30:37Z")
You guys have short memories. First, charisma isn’t a qualification for office, as we’ve seen for the past five years. Second, non-charismatic Presidents do get elected. More commonly than Senators, I might add. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/317 "2014-01-10T10:09:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Second, non-charismatic Presidents do get elected. More commonly than Senators, I might add. In the last 50 years, I think it’s pretty clear that the more charismatic (and likable) candidate won in each Presidential election. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/318 "2014-01-10T11:19:00Z")
True. But it’s a relative thing, and would break down if one party actually imagined it was all that mattered. Hillary Clinton isn’t going to beat any of the Republican candidates in charisma or likeability. But I wouldn’t bet against her just because of that. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/319 "2014-01-10T12:27:13Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Hillary Clinton isn’t going to beat any of the Republican candidates in charisma or likeability. But I wouldn’t bet against her just because of that. Are you joking? This is subjective, of course, but you’re kidding yourself if you think most voters will believe that Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, or Ted Cruz are more likable and more charismatic than Hillary Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448/320 "2014-01-10T12:46:42Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That was some nice spin by the administration’s hand-picked guy, but no. Progressive groups were supposed to be looked at by the Cincinnati office, but Tea Party applications had to be sent to DC. And the number of Teabagger applications sent to DC which were disapproved was… zero. Some progressive groups were denied this status, ZERO conservative groups were. Are you saying that anything done in DC is by definition suspect and anything done elsewhere is by definition wholesome and pure? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-we-should-get-used-to-saying-president-christie-yea-or-nay/674448.md?page=17)