In addition, a plurality – 44 percent – believe Christie is mostly telling the truth, 33 percent say he’s not and another 23 percent are unsure.That means at least 7% of those whose opinion hasn't changed (or who like him more) think he's not telling the truth. What's up with them? I'm guessing they're the cynics who think all politicians lie or the pragmatists who think you've got to be able to fudge the truth to get things done in the real world.
Why do you think this bridge business isn't having much of an effect? Maybe people feel that this sort of political payback is going on all the time and is small stuff. Perhaps the question should be: Why was this a story at all? Obviously, one answer is the interest in tearing down a presidential frontrunner, and another is that it was a good distraction from the Obamacare rollout and the Gates memoir.
But there's something more general here that we ought to be prepared to deal with in the future, with different characters and in different times. And that is the way writing has taken the place of speaking. People don't talk on the phone anymore. They send email and texts. So there are many more speech-like remarks — casual or brusque or allusive or jocose or elliptical — set down in writing.
"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee"/"They are the children of Buono voters." That's the junk that saw the light of day and blew up this brouhaha.
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It became a story because it is close to MSM HQ, and they saw a chance to make something of it while also distracting attention fromO-troubles.
Other than that, I think Christie should not have apologized - and certainly not for 2 hours, and then again and again - so maybe he is not quite ready for prime time.
"staunch Tea Partiers"
I'm curious, why the adjective? Hardcore Dems are not equivalent to the Tea Party. They're not an extremist group, they simple "believe in lower taxes and the Second Amendment. Horrors!" - Dr Helen Smith
http://pjmedia.com/drhelen/2014/01/15/please-take-me-off-your-list-of-hate/
Still not sure if I would vote for him, but...
1) I was impressed by his response - the lengthy press conference, etc. If no new evidence comes to light linking him to the event, I think the worst is behind him. The contrast between his response and say, Obama or Hillary is stark.
2) If this had happened in a smaller media market, would we be receiving so much coverage? I doubt it.
It does not change my opinion of him either...
I don't want him as president. He is a RINO and always was.
Wasn't it always someone from Fort Lee, NJ that wrote the letters to Rosanne Rosannadanna?
/edit simply not simple
"But the survey also shows that the potential 2016 Republican candidate has lost ground to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an early hypothetical presidential match up and now trails her by 13 points."
That's a 10 point drop in a month. And still no love for Walker among GOP primary voters? Eeks out Jindal for last place :(
exhelodrvr1:
A Mister Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey writes in to say.....
---
Shall we compare Chris Christie, with Barack Obama, who famously quoted Sean Connery in the Untouchables: They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way!
And he's been doing it too!
The people most directly affected are the ones who took the bridge while the lanes were closed. I'd certainly be pissed.
I guess these sorts of governmental abuse of power inevitably must be compared to each other. Maybe people are just inoculated to these kinds of things. Politicians aren't better than the rest of us, and are often worse.
I wonder if CAIR (A terrorist supporting organization) which supports Mr. Christie approves of his actions on the Bridge matter. Probably yes, as: It appears no Muslims were hurt; And, it leaves the bridge available as a target for their buddies.
Saw a couple of promos last night for the Letterman show. I guess it's ok to make fun of the eating habits of fat people.
Christie had to be taken down by the MSM and the other Democrats. He is a political danger to Mrs. Clinton and he is- and will develop more- a big fund raiser. The Christie news was also a useful blanket to cover and obscure all manner of Obama foolishness.
I was in a location yesterday to watch Diane sawyer. Quelle surprise, they linked Christie to Booosh "mistakes were made" with a clip of Booosh and Christie had the audacity not to take the blame.
When I heard that Hillary Clinton had Ted Kennedy on her enemies list, that increased my regard for her.
Perhaps some portion of that 7% thought the citizens of Fort Lee had it coming.
Let's say you are a New Yorker. Anything that keeps New Jerseyites out of New York City is a good thing.
And who can forget the Spa King of New Jersey from Desperately Seeking Susan who bottled up his wife in Fort Lee. Anything that inconveniences him is A-OK with me.
Christie should be punished as severely as the public employee union was for slowing snow removal in NYC during the big snow in 2010. The same punishment would be appropriate.
None you say ?
Oh.
I keep hearing that Christie did this to punish Mayor Sokolich of Fort Lee for not supporting him.
I had just assumed that Sokolich was a republican. I don't recall seeing anything to the contrary in any of the reports I saw or read.
In the morning I was listening to the No Agenda boys (Curry & Dvorak) www.noagendashow.com and they pointed out that Sokolich is a Democrat
So now the story makes less sense than ever. Why would Christie expect a demmie to support him?
When has a democrat mayor ever supported a Repo candidate for a governor? It is hard to imagine that happening.
If Christie expected any dem to support him in the race, especially as it was not a close race, he would have to be insane.
I don't like Christie and hope he is not a candidate for Prez, but I think he is within the range of sane.
I think this whole thing of punishing the mayor for lack of support is made up from whole cloth by our "News" media.
Fuck them all. I hope they all go bankrupt.
John Henry
to clarify above:
By support, I mean that the media tells us it was payback for Sokolich not supporting Christie's bid for re-election.
John Henry
Why do you think this bridge business isn't having much of an effect?
It is a regional affair. It has no effect on the remainder of the country. People are concerned about the jobs, the economy, taxes and healthcare.
This came yesterday. Why did it takes so long.....
New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D) provided a letter to TPM on Monday showing that she attempted to alert Gov. Chris Christie (R) about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September, just six days after the lanes reopened.
As Attorney General Christie prosecutions were 75% Democrats. This is political payback, you betchya.
When he starts doing photo-ops with the family pets, you will know the heat is getting to him.
Did they poll these guys?
When has a democrat mayor ever supported a Repo candidate for a governor? It is hard to imagine that happening.
Christie received a ton of Democratic endorsements. Or find a horses head in their bed, presumably.
In 2007 Blue Jersey attempted to put together a list of Attorney General Christie investigations:
Chris Christie's Investigations Since 2002
What if every traffic jam in New Jersey was caused by Chris Christie?
"Why do you think this bridge business isn't having much of an effect?"
Democrats are untroubled by thuggery and criminal behavior which are the norm for their politicians.
Some Republicans and Independents have become cynical and think the occasional payback to Dems is okay. Others believe him.
Among the smaller percentage are hardcore Dems and people who think politicians and their hand picked staffs should behave well (these are not the same groups).
This cartoon says it best, comparing Christie's response to Obama's IRS non-response:
http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/payn_c11519320140113120100.jpg
"As Attorney General Christie prosecutions were 75% Democrats. This is political payback, you betchya."
Christie was Attorney General? Who knew?
What if BridgeGate is a distraction from the chemical spill in West Virginia?
The math is wrong. it is 7%/74% ~ 9.5%. So even more impressive!
What if BridgeGate is a distraction from the chemical spill in West Virginia?"
Nah. It's a distraction from the endless Obama and Democrat scandals. As for the public's seeming uncaring well simply stated after four years of Chicago Style Democrat thuggery it no longer seems to register on the public's give a crap meter. Besides its nickels and dimes compared to Hillary, Holden. Zero and the rest of the New Communist Party thuggery and thievery.
I am still of the opinion that he is smart enough not to have been involved in such a thing. That said, that people would support him or even like him more if he did engage in such gross abuse of power is saddening to me.
I am still of the opinion that he is smart enough not to have been involved in such a thing. That said, that people would support him or even like him more if he did engage in such gross abuse of power is saddening to me.
Why are we still talking about this? The MSM is going to need another squirrel and fast. Even my bay area lefty friends are sick and tired of hearing about it.
It's Chinatown, Jake.
There's Gallup poll out which says that people regard government as the main problem in the US so this Fort Lee incident probably strikes people as just more problem government
There is a Bridgegate every time Obama visits a populated area, which for publicity purposes happens fairly often.
There was that time when one of the president's planes caused traffic congestion in Manhattan. I think it was dubbed Air Force One-gate, but the president was not on board. He was probably watching a video on the green.
@ChrisChristie Knows @ChrisChristie
Seems that his press conference strategy worked.
Chris Christie has been transformed into a 320 pound squirrel.
Obama uses the IRS against his political enemies. The MSM yawns. Obama plays politics with disaster aid. The MSM yawns. Obama doles out stimulus dollars to blue states. The MSM yawns. Obama causes four hour traffic jams whenever he travels on his never-ending political campaign. Ask the good citizens of LA. But Bridgegate is armageddon. Oh, that liberal media.
I've spent my share of time in traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge, so it definitely rubs me the wrong way to hear that a particular traffic jam might be politically motivated.
On the other hand, having grown up in NJ and lived my entire life in the Northeast, there is an acceptance that this is just "how things work", and there is no shortage of tools to make your life miserable if you try to stir the pot. If you expect to get that building permit to renovate your kitchen, you better keep your head down.
I live in a Connecticut city now, and we recently had a hotly contested mayoral race between two Democrats: the incumbent and a challenger. Purely by coincidence, of course, the city started digging up the sidewalks and doing roadwork directly in front of the challenger's campaign offices a few weeks before the election. Technically, the offices were still accessible, but practically, they weren't. Purely a coincidence. Business as usual.
This kind of thing happens all the freakin' time around here, but it only gets past the free town newspaper if a Republican or pedophilia (preferably both) are involved. It's boring. My NJ Facebook friends are probably split evenly between GOP moderates and Dems, and the only ones who seem to be treating Bridgegate as an important issue are members of the NJ teachers union, who hate Christie like Madison activists hate Scott Walker.
Frankly, the bridge scandal might even help Christie in a strange way: people are so starved for a Republican who treats opponents as opponents that they are willing to accept a little inconvenience just to see a "fair" fight.
the potential 2016 Republican candidate has lost ground to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an early hypothetical presidential match up
Of course, according to early hypothetical presidential matchups Hillary should already be starting year six of her Presidency by now. Conclude from that what you may.
It raises the questions : is Christie Alinsky proof?
Do more voters want a "strongman"?
There has been some recent articles wishing for a strongman authored by members of the American intellectual nomenklatura.
NYT
The American Interest
A countervailing intellectual current holds up radically decentralized Switzerland as a model. Switzerland a nation of cantons, excellent private/public health care, and an assault rifle in every home.
On the New York side of the bridge there is a fair amount of derision for the "bridge and tunnel" people. Maybe on the New Jersey side there is too.
When I was growing up, there was a saying attributed to the mafia, "Don't write what you can say. Don't say what you can show."
One reason Richard Nixon was brought down was that so many of his people felt the need to write everything down.
Maybe people feel that this sort of political payback is going on all the time and is small stuff.
The Federal investigations against Christie's admin are payback, as big as the Obamoids can make them.
Wait a minute--why aren't we still talking about Duck Dynasty?
I think Christie knew all about the planned traffic snarl, and certainly supported it, whether he originated the idea or not. After all, he is a follower of Obama, the Won, who has pioneered the use of government against individual Americans for political gain. Christie is a very pink RINO, and not very repub even at that.
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