Christie Shows Republican Party the Road to Victory
Published in El País
(Spain) on 6 November 2013
by Antonio Caño (link to original)
(Spain) on 6 November 2013
by Antonio Caño (link to original)
Translated from
by Clarke Reid.
Edited by Jane Lee.
Chris Christie is the man of the moment in the United States, perhaps also the man of the future. Following a significant victory on Tuesday in New Jersey, where he reclaimed his position as governor by a margin of more than 20 points over his Democratic rival, Christie has become one of the most popular politicians in the country and the only one that offers the possibility of a Republican Party victory in the presidential elections of 2016.
His secret in governing over the past four years has been creating alliances with the Democratic Party — essential in a state with a traditionally progressive majority — promoting a moderate social platform and cooperating with Barack Obama when needed, for example during the catastrophe of Hurricane Sandy. In other words, he has done exactly the opposite of what the tea party has demanded of Republicans in Washington and in other parts of the country.
The night of his electoral victory, Christie promised to continue along these lines: “Is what I think happening really happening? Are people really coming together, are we really working, African-Americans and Hispanics, suburbanites and city dwellers, farmers and teachers, are we really all working together? Let me give the answer to everyone who is watching tonight: Under this government, our first job is to get the job done, and as long as I’m governor, that job will always, always be finished,” he declared.
With this recipe, Christie garnered the vote of 57 percent of women, 51 percent of Hispanics and 25 percent of African-Americans, precisely the groups that in recent years have fled the Republican Party and generally cemented Democratic victories in the last two presidential elections.
These circumstances, along with the fact that tea party candidate Ken Cuccinelli was defeated on Tuesday in the state of Virginia, which has been dominated by the Republican Party for decades, should be sufficient to convince the leaders of the Right how best to return to the White House.
Christie, with his centrism, pragmatism and rhetoric of integration, has blazed a new path and made clear who is to blame for pushing his party toward ideological fundamentalism, inflexibility and conflict with racial minorities.
All of this, however, is not going to be sufficient to provoke a change in the direction of the Republican Party overnight. Christie will remain, without a doubt, a relevant figure until the next presidential campaign, but will still have to jump through many hoops to be the candidate supported by the majority of conservatives.
This recent electoral round has, as always, left enough loose ends for the tea party and its followers to stick to their guns. The victory of the Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, for example, saw a smaller margin than predicted — only two points — which his adversary says is evidence that recent doubt about Obama’s health care reform was about to give him the victory.
All praise Christie received from colleagues was accompanied by urges to continue fighting health care reform, which suggests that this will again be the principal point of debate during the legislative elections next year.
The tea party is looking forward to the elections to get things going again. It has the money and the territorial influence required to dominate certain elections that are won district by district. Success for the tea party in the legislative elections would create an opportunity to present its own presidential candidate — perhaps Sen. Ted Cruz — and make life very difficult for Christie.
Anyone who maintains distance from the charged emotional atmosphere that has created the politics of the tea party is capable of seeing that withdrawal from Christie and the platform that he represents would be suicide for the Republican Party. But things aren’t seen the same way from the epicenter of the conservative revolution, where everything is made up of absolute and alarmist principles.
If logic and sense prevail in the end, it’s likely that on Tuesday we witnessed the prelude to the battle of 2016. In New Jersey, Christie was consecrated, and in Virginia a man that can be best defined as the political child of the Clintons was victorious. We have seen, although in figurative form, the first assault in what could be the great duel of the coming years: Chris Christie-Hillary Clinton.
The ex-secretary of state was not present on election night. Nor has she announced her presidential candidacy. But her shadow dominates the Democratic Party scene and affects the actions of all of her colleagues, none of whom dare to talk unless she does first. This could end up becoming a problem for Democrats, who today were only spectators to the unstoppable ascent of Christie.
His secret in governing over the past four years has been creating alliances with the Democratic Party — essential in a state with a traditionally progressive majority — promoting a moderate social platform and cooperating with Barack Obama when needed, for example during the catastrophe of Hurricane Sandy. In other words, he has done exactly the opposite of what the tea party has demanded of Republicans in Washington and in other parts of the country.
The night of his electoral victory, Christie promised to continue along these lines: “Is what I think happening really happening? Are people really coming together, are we really working, African-Americans and Hispanics, suburbanites and city dwellers, farmers and teachers, are we really all working together? Let me give the answer to everyone who is watching tonight: Under this government, our first job is to get the job done, and as long as I’m governor, that job will always, always be finished,” he declared.
With this recipe, Christie garnered the vote of 57 percent of women, 51 percent of Hispanics and 25 percent of African-Americans, precisely the groups that in recent years have fled the Republican Party and generally cemented Democratic victories in the last two presidential elections.
These circumstances, along with the fact that tea party candidate Ken Cuccinelli was defeated on Tuesday in the state of Virginia, which has been dominated by the Republican Party for decades, should be sufficient to convince the leaders of the Right how best to return to the White House.
Christie, with his centrism, pragmatism and rhetoric of integration, has blazed a new path and made clear who is to blame for pushing his party toward ideological fundamentalism, inflexibility and conflict with racial minorities.
All of this, however, is not going to be sufficient to provoke a change in the direction of the Republican Party overnight. Christie will remain, without a doubt, a relevant figure until the next presidential campaign, but will still have to jump through many hoops to be the candidate supported by the majority of conservatives.
This recent electoral round has, as always, left enough loose ends for the tea party and its followers to stick to their guns. The victory of the Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, for example, saw a smaller margin than predicted — only two points — which his adversary says is evidence that recent doubt about Obama’s health care reform was about to give him the victory.
All praise Christie received from colleagues was accompanied by urges to continue fighting health care reform, which suggests that this will again be the principal point of debate during the legislative elections next year.
The tea party is looking forward to the elections to get things going again. It has the money and the territorial influence required to dominate certain elections that are won district by district. Success for the tea party in the legislative elections would create an opportunity to present its own presidential candidate — perhaps Sen. Ted Cruz — and make life very difficult for Christie.
Anyone who maintains distance from the charged emotional atmosphere that has created the politics of the tea party is capable of seeing that withdrawal from Christie and the platform that he represents would be suicide for the Republican Party. But things aren’t seen the same way from the epicenter of the conservative revolution, where everything is made up of absolute and alarmist principles.
If logic and sense prevail in the end, it’s likely that on Tuesday we witnessed the prelude to the battle of 2016. In New Jersey, Christie was consecrated, and in Virginia a man that can be best defined as the political child of the Clintons was victorious. We have seen, although in figurative form, the first assault in what could be the great duel of the coming years: Chris Christie-Hillary Clinton.
The ex-secretary of state was not present on election night. Nor has she announced her presidential candidacy. But her shadow dominates the Democratic Party scene and affects the actions of all of her colleagues, none of whom dare to talk unless she does first. This could end up becoming a problem for Democrats, who today were only spectators to the unstoppable ascent of Christie.