Christie’s Scandal Limits Republican Options To Get to the White House

His appearance this past Thursday to repeatedly ask for forgiveness and announce the firing of most of his advisory team did not prevent New Jersey Governor Chris Christie from feeling the damage caused by a political scandal that has seriously compromised the career of the person who was currently perhaps the nation’s most popular politician and without a doubt the Republican Party’s main hope to take back the White House.

“All I can do is apologize,” said Christie, after learning that some of his staff were involved in an apparently minor and childish issue but one so despicable it would arouse suspicions about the moral attitude of any politician: The closing of two lanes at the crossing of the George Washington Bridge, an essential route for traffic between New Jersey and New York, with the intent to create monumental obstruction and to punish a mayor who had refused to support Christie in his battle to be re-elected.

Christie had maintained up to now that neither he nor anyone in his office had had anything to do with the incident, which took place in September. On Wednesday, however, the press published emails sent by high-level civil servants in his government that not only demonstrated the opposite was true, but also illustrated the disdain with which Christie’s advisers referred to the rival mayor from Fort Lee and the citizens affected by the obstruction.

This Thursday, the governor appeared in order to make assurances that he had not known about the operation, that he was deceived by his staff and that, at no moment, did he act with the intent of threatening or punishing the mayor of Fort Lee for political reasons. “I am not a bully,” he attested.

However, with this very denial, Christie acknowledged what has been suspected as being one of his major character traits: his tendency to react furiously, passionately and disproportionately when someone opposes him. It is common in politics for a denial to make a rumor more credible. “I am not a crook,” Richard Nixon said in the middle of Watergate. Now, Christie is going to have a lot of trouble trying to convince Americans that, effectively, he is not a bully. Some of the questions from the round of press were revealing: “You weren’t yelling at people who—?” “Governor, [did you] break anything?”

Provoking traffic chaos in order to punish a mayor that opposes him — a chaos of such proportions that it had been in the New York news for months — is such a highly disreputable act that it makes it difficult for him to maintain the authority to make election promises. It is evident that some members of his team are implicated. The emails prove that his deputy chief of staff had said, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” and that another of his staff, who worked in the control office for the George Washington Bridge, was delighted when he was told that thousands of children were stuck on their way to school, that those were suffering the consequences of that act were “[…] the children of Buono voters,” in reference to Barbara Buono, Christie’s rival in the November election for governor. Even if it is true that Christie himself did not know anything, it is alarming that he could surround himself with such people.

Christie won the November election with ease. That win was mentioned internationally as his confirmation as the Republican with the highest probability of winning the 2016 presidential election. Acclaimed in a state with a Democratic majority, Christie ratified his profile of moderate politics with the capability to win support from widespread voting sectors, exactly what is required to reach the White House. The governor never denied this ambition; throughout the winter, there have been speculations and even polls taken regarding a potential Chris Christie-Hillary Clinton duel.

Now, doubt surrounds all of this, even assuming the idea is not completely ruled out. Despite his popularity, Christie does not lack enemies within and outside his party who will try to take advantage of this serious blunder in order to finish him off. Within the Republican Party, this news will bring much satisfaction to many conservatives and tea party supporters who have distrusted Christie since he agreed to collaborate with Barack Obama and was photographed with the president after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Christie will try to escape this predicament with the tools that have made him famous up to now: his naturalness and spontaneity. This past Thursday, he answered questions on the subject for two hours, apparently hiding nothing. He admitted that, while he has a strong character, is human and is not perfect, he would never react in such a way as to harm citizens because of anger toward a political rival.

It could work. Americans are quite receptive to the recognition of errors and tend to support politicians who show compassion and with whom they can relate. These are precisely some of problems that Obama has faced due to his rigidity and distance. However, this case is about a scandal that is not related to the confusing world of financing and networking in which politicians live. On the contrary, it deals with the daily torment of many New Jersey citizens: his or her commute to New York. That could be more difficult to forgive.