The Chris Christie Conversation
Instapundit links to Bainbridge and what amounts to a lot of cluelessness. No one Bainbridge calls out for criticizing Christie has said he is bad for New Jersey, or shouldn't be a Republican. The discussion some are having is about the national political narrative. It is amazing after having gone through the McCain disaster of 2008, how quickly some seem to forget. I backed Christie over the so called true conservative in New Jersey, Lonegan, because Lonegan was wrong for the state.
Don’t demand perfection, or you’ll be disappointed. Demand as good as you can get, and move ahead. Political change is a process, not an event.
Ultimately, Christie's track record on government, taxes, culture and the environment puts him slightly to the Left of Rudy Giuliani. And I could have lived with Rudy in 2008. Some of the same people with their shorts in a wad over any criticism of Christie in terms of his framing the national political discourse, now, just got done throwing as many Christie's out of Washington as they could. Christie is as good as one can get for New Jersey. If his defenders in this sense want 50 states just like New Jersey when it comes to taxes and government over reach, then they are just as wrong in their vision for a broader America, as is Christie in many ways.
To the extent Christie can bring improvement in New Jersey, good for him. However, were he to get to Washington, all he would accomplish is to take America further Left. We've had enough of that type of change in the last two years, thank you very much. And if people don't have the ability to even understand what conversations they are butting into, as is the case with Bainbridge, then they should exercise enough judgment to stay out of them. What Bainbridge ultimately looks like is no more than a politically superficial-thinking malcontent.
Was Mike Castle from for Delaware?
Actually, I think he sucks. But he was the most conservative person with a chance of winning.
Chris Christie is a great leader who doesn’t mince words. Some purists wouldn’t accept W, who was very right for Texas, as conservative enough (I don’t, to be honest). We have to realize the USA has a lot of New Jersey in it.
Of course, this all is moot. He is great for his state and he’s got nowhere near enough experience (only a couple of years as governor) to be seen as a contender for President. In a few years, we will know much more about Christie. If he’s able to manage a crazy legislative environment and powerful government unions, and get an out of control budget back in order, of course he’s a great prospect for US President. It’s actually pure mental illness to insist all he could do for America is drive her to the left.
Much of the crapping on Christie, one of the greatest patriots alive today, is simply because he called the DE Senate race correctly. The people who called it wrong are the sort to hold grudges.
Excuse me for a type. My initial question is “was Mike Castle right for Delaware?”
He’s actually a hell of a lot like Chris Christie. He was an excellent governor of DE. If Mike Castle could run the US Government like he ran the DE government, he’d be an exceptional president (I’m not pretending he could).
“having gone through the McCain disaster of 2008″
Don’t you mean the McCain/Palin disaster of 2008?
“Much of the crapping on Ho Chi Minh, one of the greatest patriots (not) alive today, is simply because he called the Vietnam war correctly. The people who called it wrong are the sort to hold grudges.”
Is that how logic works these days?
… if people don’t have the ability to even understand what conversations they are butting into, as is the case with Bainbridge, then they should exercise enough judgment …
No.
With that said, how would they know they are?
I see this apology by Bainbridge linked to by Instapundit and I think to myself I don’t know whats going on and I really do not care but NEVER would I listen to a supposed Conservative who voted FOR Obama because their ignorance is unlimited to just that particular conversation. They have shown that they can be swayed by rhetoric instead of serious thinking and they demean the Conservative Movement by pretending to be anything other then a dupe!
Let’s see, Bainbridge is one of the small group in the legal world that argues strongly that corporations should be run by directors to make money rather than to do whatever social issue is on the left-side agenda today, while opposing the Miers nomination. These are not small things. When did the memo come out that conservatives were supposed to follow the Daily Kos playbook?
A small piece of advice for 2012. Y’all can go to war in the GOP, with the establishment turning on the tea party and vice-versa — even though both sides have their share of screw-ups (O’Donnell on one, Scozzafava/Murkowski/Crist on the other) this cycle. And maybe target non-party loyal conservatives as well. But across the board in state-wide races for key states, the votes on both sides were close. When Dems activate their full urban majorities in 2012, the residue of this cr** likely will be significant losses again. Everyone should learn to live with the primary votes; learn some lessons about candidacy selection and (for the establishment) putting voters over personal advancement; and figure out how to go after votes in the Dems urban power bases. Otherwise, this may well prove ephemeral on the state-wide and national offices. Ask the California GOP how well such in-fighting worked out for them after they seized the Assembly in the early ’90s.
I think that anyone touting Christie as a player beyond the borders of the Garden State, at this moment in time, is an absolute fool. From my perch here on Staten Island–with the rest of my family relocated to Jackson, NJ–I’ve watched that state go from “meh” to “OMG!” awful, yet Mom, Sis and Bro-in-Law all voted for Corzine, and their reasoning boiled down to “Lonegan is an awful man, and Christie beat him, so he must be worse.”
They were right about Lonegan; the man is an insufferable bastard, constantly buying radio time promoting all his various causes to the point you want to punch him in the face if chance put you close enough to take the swing.
Christie has, so far, shown he meant what he said about getting Jersey’s economic house in order. He has NOT, however, come close to accomplishing the task. Thinking he is ready to take to the national stage at this time, with nothing more than a few YouTube clips as a résumé, is as ludicrous as electing a back bench junior senator borne of the most coruupt political machine among this Republic’s states.
When my family tells me they believe in Christie–and they are not there by a long shot yet–then, maybe, he’s ready for prime time.
The thing about what happened in Delaware, Dustin, is that the GOP voters CHOSE Christine O’Donnell over Castle. Perhaps Castle was more electable. He wasn’t the choice. Perhaps things could have ended different had the NRSC not immediately said “we won’t give her money”, which said “we won’t support her.” Instead, they could have jumped in and offered the political neophyte their full support.
As far as Bainbridge’s article, when someone starts quoting Doug Mantaconis, they have immediately lost the argument. Doug seems to be going the route of Andrew Sullivan, spending more and more time attacking Republicans.
THe irony I see is that even though Rudy Guiliani was America’s Mayor while turning NYC into an economic paradise where the streets could safely be walked when it was time to step up to the plate to support Rudy, the NYC GOP establishment turned on Rudy . In the 2008 campaign it cam down to either the Wallstreet moneyman Mitt Romney or the 9/11 troofer Ron Paul.
I always admired Rudy-there will never be another of his kind in this bedbug infested town.
I hope Chris Christie is successful at turning NJ around though only 1300 cuts out of his promised 20,000 is slow going.
My point is that with great confidence I am sure that those who are currently puffing-up Christie as the Conservative Reagan Man will turn on him the moment he is skewered by the Fat Comedy TV-Film-Stage as being an uncool dude.
(imo-CHristie won’t run for National office, he knows he would never survive the Fat Skewering Comedy Brigade and why should he have to suffer only to be betrayed by those who puffed him up in the first place?)
Yeah, I think “electable” means they can at least win a primary? Think I read that once. Also, on the same page, was the definition of someone who LOSES the primary, as a “loser”.
Also, someone who thinks a candidate that lost the primary, would have been better, is also defined as a “loser”, or, perhaps, a moron, I can’t remember.
Don’t you mean the McCain/Palin disaster of 2008?
I don’t. If it had been the Palin/McCain ticket Palin could have won.
How dumb is Barfo?
“Don’t you mean the McCain/Palin disaster of 2008?”
Barfo thinks most folks vote for President on the basis of who the VP would be. That’s pretty dumb.
On another issue, Bainbridge makes the indirect case, based on an extrapolation of his reasoning, that Murkowski[sp?] is the best candidate for Alaska Senator. Even though Republicans clearly rejected her and favored her opponent, she did the right thing by telling them to fxxx off. The proof is that libruls and left-leaning independents are voting her in as a write-in. See it doesn’t matter if the candidate is a turd…the essential point is that someone with some kind of R or arr after his/her name be elected, you know for committe appointments and such. Now that is great RINO logic in action.
Instapundit doesn’t want to see Conservatives put the pedal to the metal. He wants us enthused, just not TOO enthused.
Problem with that is that it leads to Karl Rove size victories where you squeak by, or do decent. I, instead, want to do GREAT!
The same battle cry (and I mean ‘cry’ as in whimper) gets heard. ‘Don’t be too conservative.’ We, conservatives, drive them back, and back, and back, and each time we do we hear ‘Oh, you’re too conservative. Be afraid. Be very afraid.’ And then we drive them back again.
Conservatives of the world, unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains which your supposed friends have draped you with.
“Don’t demand perfection, or you’ll be disappointed. Demand as good as you can get, and move ahead. Political change is a process, not an event.”
I’m sure GOP loyalists generally and apparatchiks in particular believe they’ve plugged the dikes with the NV, DE and AK senate elections(all small population states).
But with Gallup and Rasmussen reiterating that 3/4 of Republican affliates continue to believe leadership is unresponisive and lost, with TEA affliates outnumbering Republicans, and 680 new state legislators beneath elite’s horizons the levees are unsound.
Some states-CA, IL, NY-are bound to default. Many cities will unincorporate. Many government workers will lose their jobs. New heroes will arise from states that manage well.
The 112th Senate will be an embarassment to everyone.