A Republican Dream

While Barack Obama’s Republican opponents are slow to move toward the start line in the 2012 race to the White House, Republican voters are dreaming about the ideal candidate. A number of them have found Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, to be the one. But there is a snag, and it’s a big one…

“End of discussion,” Chris Christie announced as he took off his jacket, revealing a waistline comparable to that of a sumo wrestler. “This is where the fun part of the meeting begins.”

As he moves around a rectangular area, limited in movement by the cord of the microphone he is holding, the governor of New Jersey speaks to a group of about 200 people, gathered in a parish hall in Hopatcong, a town of 15,800 inhabitants located 60 kilometers west of New York City. Elected in 2009 as the head of a state on the edge of bankruptcy, the 48-year-old Republican is holding one of those town hall meetings that have led to his fame.

“Some of you have maybe seen excerpts from these town hall meetings on the Internet,” he says with a smile, referring to the clips of his arguments with aggressive citizens, often state employees from New Jersey. “That only happens when people are disrespectful and angry and they start to shout at me. Most politicians react to this type of situation by saying, ‘thank you very much for your question, it was very thoughtful.’ They react kindly, as if you had been very nice. Not me.”

The crowd reacts with laughter and applause to the governor’s statement. However, the Q&A session which La Presse attended on Wednesday did not lead to any altercation worthy of putting on YouTube. Instead, the session was a sort of declaration of love which has since met with viral success on the Internet.

“I think that having a governor who’s smart and has the perseverance to do what’s right is hot and sexy,” stated Debra Nicholson, a well put together blond woman, before she asked her question about social housing.

Popular among conservatives.

Obviously, Debra Nicholson is not the only one to show such admiration for Chris Christie. According to a survey that was published this week by Quinnipiac University, the governor of New Jersey is ranked by his compatriots as the third most likeable figure, after Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton. Barack Obama is behind him in fourth place.

The results from this survey explain in part why some Republicans are dreaming about Chris Christie and why they see him as the only likely candidate to beat President Obama in 2012. Even if he is from a state that is traditionally Democratic, the governor is especially popular with the hardcore conservatives.

“If we don’t run Chris Christie, (Mitt) Romney will be the nominee and he’ll lose” the presidential election, said Ann Coulter, a right-wing advocate, before a crowd of conservative activists who applauded her comments.

A year ago, the radio commentator Rush Limbaugh asked “if it is wrong to love another man.” “Because I love Chris Christie!” he admitted to his listeners.

Without a doubt, Coulter and Limbaugh’s admiration of Chris Christie has to do with his assertive, maybe even aggressive, attitude toward the unions that represent state employees. In order to make up for an $11 billion deficit this year, the New Jersey governor has targeted, in particular, the benefits of union members in the public service.

But, as he has successfully proven in his town hall meetings, Chris Christie is more than someone who picks fights. His way of presenting his arguments is that of a former federal prosecutor (he held that post from 2002 to 2008) who must be able to persuade jurors. Along with this effective approach, he has a sense of humor that has been compared to that of a stand-up comedian.

Not ready for presidency?

Jerry Murphy, deputy mayor of Sparta, a neighboring town of Hopatcong, is among those who have become a supporter of Chris Christie’s cause.

“He has a personality, I like that, it’s refreshing and important,” he stated after attending the governor’s town hall meeting on Wednesday. “He doesn’t go easy on anyone; he says things as they are. In fact, I changed parties because of him.”

Like several others gathered in the parish hall in Hotpatcong, Jerry Murphy is convinced of Chris Christie’s superiority over all the other possible Republican candidates for the White House.

“Is he exciting? Is he intelligent? Is he someone who can draw attention? I think the response is rather clear,” said the elected representative from Sparta.

The snag, and it’s a rather large one, is that Chris Christie has repeatedly said that he has no intention of running for the presidency in 2012, even if circumstances seem to be ideal for a candidate who has taken on an abysmal deficit and has a personality like his.

“That’s not a reason to be president of the United States,” the governor from New Jersey stated last month after a speech in Washington. “You have to believe in your heart, and in your soul and in your mind that you are ready and I don’t believe that about myself right now. So that’s why I say that I won’t run and I can’t imagine that changing. In any case, my wife would kill me.”

Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, does not doubt Chris Christie’s sincerity.

“He has been very adamant on this topic. There is no reason to believe that he plans on running for the nomination,” she declared in a telephone interview. “He says that he could win the nomination, but he doesn’t feel ready for the presidency. That says a lot about his personality.”