Luke Skywalker
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks to Laura Ingraham at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 26, 2016. (H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Don’t call him short-tempered or hot-headed. Call him “passionate.”
That’s how New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie described himself before a full house of conservative activists at the CPAC gathering Tuesday, when talk-show host Laura Ingraham read off a list of the unflattering adjectives sometimes applied to Christie.
“The word they miss is passionate,” Christie said. Referring to a much-viewed video of Christie barking at a <span style="color: Red;">*</span>New Jersey resident during a town hall meeting. “Sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up,” Christie said, to applause.
“Some more of that stuff should be happening in D.C.,” he said. “There’s so much ridiculous stuff being spewed.”
But he told Jeb Bush, in so many words, to stand up and start talking. <span style="color: Red;">*</span>The town hall meetings he conducts in New Jersey are <span style="color: Red;">*</span>“what elected officials owe to their constituents,” Christie said, an unsubtle reference to Bush answering only pre-screened questions at his recent speeches. “Everybody who aspires to high positions of leadership … should be willing to take unscreened, unrehearsed questions from the people who pay their salary.”
Back home, Christie is dealing with New Jersey’s budget woes brought on by the rising costs of public employee pensions.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Ingraham quizzed him on issues unpopular with CPAC’s conservative audience, including Common Core educational standards; he said he “of course” regrets supporting them. He reiterated his opposition to an increased minimum wage and to abortion.
Christie comes to CPAC — where he got a good reception last year — facing lackluster poll numbers, tepid fundraising and negative coverage of his penchant for luxury travel at others’ expense.
“I don’t care what they write about me in The New York Times,” Christie said of the newspaper, which documented Christie’s travel paid by King Abdullah of Jordan, among others. “They can keep it. I don’t subscribe.’’
A new Quinnipiac Poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers released this week shows him with a paltry 4% support and lagging well behind Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, another GOP governor who leads a state that trends Democratic. More troubling for Christie: 30% of likely Iowa caucus-goers view him favorably vs. 54% who don’t. “Is the election next week?” Christie said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“I’m not worried about what the polls say 21 months before we elect the president.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>If I do run,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>I will run a hard fighting campaign where I will fight for the hard working taxpayers of this country. I’ve done pretty well so far.”
Christie is perceived to have gotten off to a slow start in the presidential race, especially as Bush — a rival for support from mainstream Republicans — has locked up fundraisers and staff.
“If the elites in Washington make backroom deals to decide who he next president is going to be, (Bush) is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>definitely the front-runner,” Christie said. If voters choose “somebody who looks them in the eye, I’ll do OK.”
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