Is Christie Too Liberal for GOP?

Toro

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Sep 29, 2005
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That's what the WSJ asks.

Chris Christie supporters clamoring for the New Jersey governor to enter the 2012 presidential race generally cite his reputation as a blunt crusader who has fought government red ink and public unions.

Less mentioned are his views on a range of other issues—from abortion and immigration to gun control and energy policy—that reflect the relatively liberal shade of his state but could dog Mr. Christie if he jumps into the nomination fight. ...

But because of his largely unexamined policy positions, Christie watchers in New Jersey predict the governor might not end that soul-searching if he decides to run.

"Conservatives are enthused," said Patrick Murray, chief pollster at New Jersey's Monmouth University. "But when they get to know him, they might not feel quite so enthusiastic." ...

Mr. Christie appointed to a superior-court judgeship this summer a Muslim lawyer who defended Muslims detained after the Sept. 11 attacks. Asked about groups who had criticized the pick, Mr. Christie told reporters, "It's just crazy, and I'm tired of dealing with the crazies."

Mr. Perry has been criticized by fellow 2012 Republican challengers for championing a law in Texas that gives in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. Mr. Christie joined in Tuesday, but he has his own vulnerabilities on the issue. He pursued only a handful of immigration cases during his nine years as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, and in 2008 he told a Latino group that "being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime."

While his party heavily favors more natural-gas and coal production, Mr. Christie has gone the other way. He passed an offshore-wind law last year that one study estimated would increase electricity costs by more than 2%. His energy plan, released in June, calls for phasing out coal-fired power plants in the state. He has opposed oil drilling off New Jersey's coastline and imposed a one-year ban on a natural-gas-extraction technique known as "fracking" while experts study its effect on drinking water.

"His energy policies are way more in line with Barack Obama's than with traditional conservatives," said Steve Lonegan, who lost to Mr. Christie in the 2009 GOP primary and now runs the New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative public-policy group.

In a Republican race dominated by strong abortion opponents, Mr. Christie would enter as a relative moderate. He said early this year that he began to oppose abortion after his wife, Mary Pat, became pregnant with their daughter, Sarah, who is now 15. But during his 2009 campaign, he opposed requiring minors seeking an abortion to first notify their parents. Thirty-five states now require parental notification.

Mr. Christie also has criticized President Obama's sweeping health-care law, but he didn't join nearly all other Republican governors in suing to overturn the law. And in another apostasy from most in his party, Mr. Christie favors an array of gun-control measures—including a ban on assault weapons—that are opposed by the National Rifle Association. The NRA has not taken a stand on Mr. Christie, who failed to return the group's questionnaire when he ran for office two years ago. "For now," said an NRA spokesman, "we rate him as a question mark."

Chris Christie Clamor Grows, but His Positions Face Scrutiny - WSJ.com
 
He sounds kind of liberal to me, Toro. That's not saying too much though. I have a hard time picking out any conservatives among the Republicans.
 
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That, and he's also too fat.

I know someone who would disagree with you....

william_taft.jpg
 
The last Republican president's proudest achievement was the "No Child Left Behind" act. He championed illegal aliens, spent like a drunken sailor, and stoked the economic meltdown by insisting that minorities all have mortgages they couldn't handle.

What, exactly, is "too liberal for the GOP"? Forced sterilization for all males? Concentration camps for Christians? Mandatory gay sex?
 
That's what the WSJ asks.

Chris Christie supporters clamoring for the New Jersey governor to enter the 2012 presidential race generally cite his reputation as a blunt crusader who has fought government red ink and public unions.

Less mentioned are his views on a range of other issues—from abortion and immigration to gun control and energy policy—that reflect the relatively liberal shade of his state but could dog Mr. Christie if he jumps into the nomination fight. ...

But because of his largely unexamined policy positions, Christie watchers in New Jersey predict the governor might not end that soul-searching if he decides to run.

"Conservatives are enthused," said Patrick Murray, chief pollster at New Jersey's Monmouth University. "But when they get to know him, they might not feel quite so enthusiastic." ...

Mr. Christie appointed to a superior-court judgeship this summer a Muslim lawyer who defended Muslims detained after the Sept. 11 attacks. Asked about groups who had criticized the pick, Mr. Christie told reporters, "It's just crazy, and I'm tired of dealing with the crazies."

Mr. Perry has been criticized by fellow 2012 Republican challengers for championing a law in Texas that gives in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. Mr. Christie joined in Tuesday, but he has his own vulnerabilities on the issue. He pursued only a handful of immigration cases during his nine years as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, and in 2008 he told a Latino group that "being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime."

While his party heavily favors more natural-gas and coal production, Mr. Christie has gone the other way. He passed an offshore-wind law last year that one study estimated would increase electricity costs by more than 2%. His energy plan, released in June, calls for phasing out coal-fired power plants in the state. He has opposed oil drilling off New Jersey's coastline and imposed a one-year ban on a natural-gas-extraction technique known as "fracking" while experts study its effect on drinking water.

"His energy policies are way more in line with Barack Obama's than with traditional conservatives," said Steve Lonegan, who lost to Mr. Christie in the 2009 GOP primary and now runs the New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative public-policy group.

In a Republican race dominated by strong abortion opponents, Mr. Christie would enter as a relative moderate. He said early this year that he began to oppose abortion after his wife, Mary Pat, became pregnant with their daughter, Sarah, who is now 15. But during his 2009 campaign, he opposed requiring minors seeking an abortion to first notify their parents. Thirty-five states now require parental notification.

Mr. Christie also has criticized President Obama's sweeping health-care law, but he didn't join nearly all other Republican governors in suing to overturn the law. And in another apostasy from most in his party, Mr. Christie favors an array of gun-control measures—including a ban on assault weapons—that are opposed by the National Rifle Association. The NRA has not taken a stand on Mr. Christie, who failed to return the group's questionnaire when he ran for office two years ago. "For now," said an NRA spokesman, "we rate him as a question mark."

Chris Christie Clamor Grows, but His Positions Face Scrutiny - WSJ.com

His position would have to be a combination of fiscal responsibility, combined with strict federalism, taking the position that if a state legislature wants to enact social or even economic change, it is free to do so as long as it does not abridge the US consitution and its own constituion. A strong position on this would at least temper the social conservatives to the view that he would at least not try to go against thier posistions.
 
The last Republican president's proudest achievement was the "No Child Left Behind" act. He championed illegal aliens, spent like a drunken sailor, and stoked the economic meltdown by insisting that minorities all have mortgages they couldn't handle.

What, exactly, is "too liberal for the GOP"? Forced sterilization for all males? Concentration camps for Christians? Mandatory gay sex?

It's all about the rhetoric, not about real action.

If anyone had merely scratched the surface, they would have found out that Bush was not so conservative, but they went along anyway as the less evil of plausible choices, a tactic that keeps kicking conservatives in the nads every time.

Christie wont last and he will only steal votes from Romney. If conservatives can settle onone guy they would rule but the activists want someone totally ideologically pure on their special issue. So now some wont consider Perry because of the instate tuition for the children of illegals, and the gardasil bullshit which was not forced on anyone.

Christie and Cain will have their turns at getting a political colonoscopy soon too.
 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y83z552NJaw]Governor Christie Talks About Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed - YouTube[/ame]

This will sink him with the GOP base.

But it was Christie's finest moment. Changed my mind about this dude after this. :clap:

I may not agree with him..but he isn't a complete loon.
 
Okay, seriously...

I think it's a sad commentary that Republicans are so unethused with Romney that they are willing to even entertain Christie, a guy who is actually a liberal on social issues.

I don't think he'd be a good candidate because his skin is a tad too thin for the job. He tends to get testy with people who question him.
 
Okay, seriously...

I think it's a sad commentary that Republicans are so unethused with Romney that they are willing to even entertain Christie, a guy who is actually a liberal on social issues.

I don't think he'd be a good candidate because his skin is a tad too thin for the job. He tends to get testy with people who question him.

Yep.

But Clinton had a similar problem, initially. It's something you can grow out of..
 
Governor Christie Talks About Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed - YouTube

This will sink him with the GOP base.

But it was Christie's finest moment. Changed my mind about this dude after this. :clap:

I may not agree with him..but he isn't a complete loon.

I don't know much about Christie but that was great.

He also called the tea party folks a bunch of loons.

why do loons get such a bad rap? they're very cool birds

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIOTp8b1b2U&NR=1]Loon joins scuba divers - YouTube[/ame]
 
He puts country before party so yeah, he's unacceptable to the GOP:

Why Chris Christie Is No Savior for Conservatives - Yahoo! News
On illegal immigration, for instance, Christie has called for "an orderly process... for people to gain citizenship," and groused about "demagoguery" on the issue. He supported the federal assault weapons ban, and in 2009 his campaign called it a "lie" for Democrats say that Christie "stands with" the National Rifle Association. He has praised Obama's education reform agenda, calling Education Secretary Arne Dunan "a great ally" on the issue. Christie has also said he believes human activity "plays a contributing role" in global warming (though he did pull New Jersey out of a regional cap-and-trade system), and that he "couldn't agree more" with President Obama's emphasis on green energy. Christie even bashed his 2009 opponent, Democratic governor John Corzine, for not delivering subsidies to the state's solar power manufacturers - a particularly awkward position given the GOP's fixation with the Solyndra bankruptcy.
 

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