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mtnlaurel
9-28-11, 6:36pm
Since all of creation has been discussing Chris Christie for a few days now, I thought we should too.

I went on a youtube binge a few weeks ago and these were my Christie favorites:
- "This Sharia(sp) law stuff is CRAP." In essence I'm not going to be bullied by the crazies.
- Cory Booker (D-Mayor Newark) & Christie coming to working terms with each other when they teamed up at the Newark Night Patrols
- I also liked hearing what Mad Money guy was saying about him on Morning Joe today... Christie's white collar prosecutorial background

What about a Christie/Huntsman ticket?
I think that would be a formidable opposition to Obama.

I don't agree with Christie on every count, but I am a sucker for his "Get The Hell Off The Beach" way of doing things. He seems very smart and seems to be his own person. I would love for someone to stand up to the Moral Majority Highjacked Tea Party effectively.

Christie doesn't think he's ready - but it appears we live in an era when the electorate could care less if one is really ready or not.

Say Obama can pull off a victory in 2012, how would anything really be able to change if the House is still in what I call an obstructionist stranglehold?

catherine
9-28-11, 6:53pm
He's my governor, and while I didn't vote for him, I wish I had. I also like his no-nonsense approach. I like the way he's handled a lot of things. The only bad thing about his running for President is if he won he would no longer be our governor.

Sincerely, though, I don't know if I'd vote for him for president. I'm more liberal than conservative. But tough times call for tough leaders, and I think he's a principled one.

CathyA
9-28-11, 7:26pm
I think the job of president is so overwhelming. You have to REALLY want it. Christie just seems like he'd really prefer not to be president. That concerns me.

JaneV2.0
9-28-11, 8:10pm
He comes across as incredibly rude, but that seems to be the way it's done these days. Maybe he's just spent too much time watching The Sopranos. Or Jersey Shore.

The Storyteller
9-28-11, 8:55pm
Who?

iris lily
9-28-11, 10:29pm
Who?

You wouldn't like him. unions. etc.

Alan
9-28-11, 10:56pm
I like him. He's like the anti-politician, straight talking, problem solving, let the chips fall where they may kinda guy. He'd make a great President.

loosechickens
9-29-11, 12:59am
I kinda like the guy, (although that New Jersey "rough around the edges" fits a lot better in NJ than it would for a President of the U.S.), but I can't imagine him making it past the gauntlet of the Tea Party Republicans......they LOVED Governor Perry, until they found out his very pragmatic take on the immigration issue.....now, not so much.

I think lots of these Republicans like Christie, not because they really know anything about the man, but because they just don't like the lineup they're being offered, and are hoping for some knight on a white horse to come galloping in.....they thought Perry was that knight until they knew more about him.

Once the Tea Party finds out that Governor Christie thought that the hooha about the "Mosque at Ground Zero" was ridiculous and that the people who opposed it were "crazies", and some other stuff about his abilities to work with Democrats and find pragmatic solutions through compromise and looking for common ground, he won't pass that "purity" test, either.

Which is too bad. Because he seems to be something of a straight shooter sort of guy. Jon Huntsman is another competent guy that is being ignored, and much as I get the "aluminum siding salesman" feeling about Romney, think he's pretty competent, too.

Because I care about my country a lot more than I care about getting a nominee that is easier for President Obama to beat, I hope that SOMEBODY that isn't the evolution denying, global climate change denying, no abortion even in the case of rape or incest of a 12 year old, earth is only 6,000 years old and Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs folks, comes along, or that the Republican Party manages to wrest control from the "crazies" (as Governor Christie called them).

Wait until the Tea Party finds out that Christie, after taking the time to actually learn about the problem, changed his previously skeptical stance of a few years ago, to........ "I can’t claim to fully understand all of this," he said. "Certainly not after just a few months of study. But when you have over 90 percent of the world’s scientists who have studied this stating that climate change is occurring and that humans play a contributing role it’s time to defer to the experts." (Governor Christie)

THAT should be the "kiss of death" for the Tea Party folks, if the Muslim and mosque issue hasn't already lost them.

catherine
9-29-11, 8:17am
Wait until the Tea Party finds out that Christie, after taking the time to actually learn about the problem, changed his previously skeptical stance of a few years ago, to........ "I can’t claim to fully understand all of this," he said. "Certainly not after just a few months of study. But when you have over 90 percent of the world’s scientists who have studied this stating that climate change is occurring and that humans play a contributing role it’s time to defer to the experts." (Governor Christie)

Yeah, maybe he should stay Governor of New Jersey rather than face a premature politcal death. Certainly that kind of thoughtful reason is not going to far with a lot of people.

And the way he held the line on making state employees come into the 21st century and start paying SOMETHING towards their own health insurance, like most of the rest of us do, earned my respect for him.

Alan
9-29-11, 8:37am
I think the Tea Party types like problem solvers. All additional commentary is just partisan hyperbole.

LDAHL
9-29-11, 9:54am
I like him. He's like the anti-politician, straight talking, problem solving, let the chips fall where they may kinda guy. He'd make a great President.

As the man said, "from your keyboard to God's browser".

peggy
9-29-11, 10:23am
I think the Tea Party types like problem solvers. All additional commentary is just partisan hyperbole.

YOu think? The tea party types don't want problem solvers. Holding a position that no compromise under any circumstance, anytime is NOT problem solving. Saying my way or the highway, and I'll reinforce that with a gun strapped to my side is NOT problem solving.
The republican party won't be taken seriously until they marginalize, or at least sift through for the non-crazies, these tea party people. They need to get rid of the tea baggers and keep the tea party types you keep talking about.

Alan
9-29-11, 10:50am
YOu think? The tea party types don't want problem solvers. Holding a position that no compromise under any circumstance, anytime is NOT problem solving. Saying my way or the highway, and I'll reinforce that with a gun strapped to my side is NOT problem solving.
The republican party won't be taken seriously until they marginalize, or at least sift through for the non-crazies, these tea party people. They need to get rid of the tea baggers and keep the tea party types you keep talking about.

Compromise doesn't solve problems, it just kicks the can down the road, which is exactly what the Republicans in the House have done with every issue they've tackled to date. What we need is more politicians and more citizens saying "No, we're not trying to kill Grandma, we don't want little autistic Timmy to suffer without services, we're not trying to take Social Security & Medicare away from anyone. We're trying to save those things so that they'll be around for the long haul."

Unfortunately, the Democrats, the media and just plain folks like you and a few others here, use that type of hyperbole to great affect. The good thing is, more and more people are seeing through the lies and mis-direction. We can thank the Tea Party and people like Chris Christie for that.

LDAHL
9-29-11, 11:38am
The republican party won't be taken seriously until they marginalize, or at least sift through for the non-crazies, these tea party people. They need to get rid of the tea baggers and keep the tea party types you keep talking about.

In 2010, the Republicans took 63 House seats, five Senate seats and six Governors away from the Democrats. Ted Kennedy's seat is now in Republican hands, and the New York Ninth Congessional District swung Republican for the first time since 1923.

That's my definition of being taken seriously. What's yours?

mtnlaurel
9-29-11, 12:08pm
Well - I am looking forward to seeing how we will ALL prosper under a Republican controlled everything, especially now that Repub's are afraid to stand up for evolution --- oh wait, the GOP already were in control for the vast majority of the last decade-- seems to have had stellar results!

Granted when the Dems were in the driver seat holding all branches (what was that 08-10 in midst of spiral of fiscal death) they way missed what was really needed -- Jobs for Joes (and Joettes).

I guess we'll all just wait around for the trickle to make it's way down like little baby birds. And for the job creators to create since their portion of GDP increased pretty steadily in recent history --- We're ready, any day now.

There's no way under the sun that one side is going to ultimately prevail for any extended period of time, so we better send some folks to DC that can hash this thing out and get us ... ALL of US or at the very least those of us clamoring for real jobs (not McD ones)... prosperous again.

peggy
9-29-11, 4:52pm
Compromise doesn't solve problems, it just kicks the can down the road, which is exactly what the Republicans in the House have done with every issue they've tackled to date. What we need is more politicians and more citizens saying "No, we're not trying to kill Grandma, we don't want little autistic Timmy to suffer without services, we're not trying to take Social Security & Medicare away from anyone. We're trying to save those things so that they'll be around for the long haul."

Unfortunately, the Democrats, the media and just plain folks like you and a few others here, use that type of hyperbole to great affect. The good thing is, more and more people are seeing through the lies and mis-direction. We can thank the Tea Party and people like Chris Christie for that.

But compromise DOES solve problems Alan. It's pretty unreasonable, and not problem solving, when you keep saying this one group has all the answers and not doing it their way is the problem. Not buying it. Does not pass the smell test. Like I, (and democrats and the media and others you happen to disagree with,) am going to trust my country to people who think reasonable action is strapping a gun to your side and going to a political rally, just to make a point you know, and hold up signs that say "keep the government out of my social security, or medicare". Yea, this is the group with all the answers. :laff:
This President has been trying to compromise (way too much in my opinion) and keeps expecting, for some reason I can't figure out, the republicans in congress to actually care about the country and jobs and the economy and such. This country has grown and thrived with the 2 party system because up to now everyone understood that to move forward you must compromise. This republican congress knows this too, but the difference is, they don't want to country to move forward. They don't want the economy to improve or people to thrive. They don't because, remember, job 1 is getting President Obama out of office. Not jobs, not the economy, not even their constituents, but the power grab.
You have been paying these people lots and lots of money, and all their staff and all the perks, simply to scheme and plot and maneuver themselves into power. Have you gotten your money's worth? Has the country gotten it's moneys worth?

Economist have said this Jobs bill the President is promoting will help the economy and the jobless. Will the republicans help? Nope, won't do it, not interested. Oh they will talk plenty about why they won't support it, and it will sound ok....in a pigs eye. But the bottom line is...job 1. And we know what that is.

Tax breaks for the rich DO NOT WORK. If they did, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now. Bush gave the wealthy the biggest breaks of any president, (which by the way is the major cause of this huge deficit) and the jobs went..away. Where are the jobs? Why isn't the economy just booming since Bush gave so many breaks to all the 'job creators'? Obama didn't change the parameters. The uber wealthy are still enjoying the biggest money grab in history. So where are the jobs? Huh? Where are they?

So now Christy is the flavor of the month. The big saviour who is going to ride in on his big white republican horse and save us all.:~)

Well guess what, he doesn't have all the answers any more than anyone else does. he can't do it all and the tea baggers can't do it all and Obama can't do it all. It takes everyone, working together (I know, that's a dirty word now, compromise) to get things done. Unfortunately, the republicans have decided their power grab is way more important than the country, the economy, you or me. And they apparently have an army of folks who are willing to support them, financially and with votes, in that endeavor.

Alan
9-29-11, 5:36pm
But compromise DOES solve problems Alan. It's pretty unreasonable, and not problem solving, when you keep saying this one group has all the answers and not doing it their way is the problem. Not buying it. Does not pass the smell test.
I guess it depends on which group you're talking about doesn't it?

When the President presented a budget and couldn't get one favorable vote in a Democrat controlled Senate, were they just refusing to compromise?

If the President told us in 2008 and 2009 that it was dangerous to raise taxes while the economy was performing poorly, and then tells us later (in campaign mode) that the only way to make the economy improve is to raise taxes, should we just say "OK, the President's always right", or should we resist making things worse?

AnneM
9-29-11, 9:52pm
OMG! Calling them 'tea baggers' doesn't help to further a respectful conversation. Neither does bashing one side or the other.

However, I see Democrats and Republicans both engaging in playing the blame game against the other party. In my mind, they're not so different from each other. We need to get grown ups into Congress that will actually work together and get something done. I don't hold out much hope.

iris lily
9-29-11, 10:05pm
Well - I am looking forward to seeing how we will ALL prosper under a Republican controlled everything, especially now that Repub's are afraid to stand up for evolution --- oh wait, the GOP already were in control for the vast majority of the last decade-- seems to have had stellar results!

...prosperous again.

I think it's unrealistic to expect boom times, if that's what you mean by "prosperous again." I'm more interested in keeping this sucker from going down, or something like that.

mtnlaurel
9-30-11, 12:41am
I think it's unrealistic to expect boom times, if that's what you mean by "prosperous again." I'm more interested in keeping this sucker from going down, or something like that.

Oh yeah totally --- by 'prosperous' I mean a just decent job for folks.
I got a little carried away with my smart aleck tone in my post. My point is exactly yours Iris Lily... the Bush Tax Cuts have been in place for years .. and where are the jobs?

It just chaps me to hear Repub's go on and on about spending, when they just spent like crazy when they had things in their control not long ago. (Tax Cuts, 2 Wars, and a Prescription Drug Bill - the math didn't work.)
I know that's crying over spilled milk - but the GOP amnesia just burns me up.

redfox
9-30-11, 4:16am
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/nyregion/for-christie-and-2-nj-senators-no-love-lost.html?_r=1&hp

Not the way I'd expect a President to behave.

peggy
9-30-11, 10:07am
I think it's unrealistic to expect boom times, if that's what you mean by "prosperous again." I'm more interested in keeping this sucker from going down, or something like that.

Once again i find myself in agreement with Iris. But it will take everyone working together to keep this ship afloat. It won't happen if either side digs their heel in and refuses to work with the others. Unfortunately, republicans are being voted out of office simply because they have shown a willingness to talk with and work with the other side. To me that's unbelievable when people are demonized for just trying to make it work.
Mitch McConnell and everyone like him should be voted out of office simply because they bragged in public that they didn't care if the country went down in flames, that they wouldn't work with this President no matter what. They only cared about their power grab.

Gregg
9-30-11, 10:26am
I think Gov. Christie is probably the most straight up guy (not yet) in the race when it comes to facing reality. I think most all of us intuitively know that we are going to be facing some tough choices. He's one of very few high profile politicians that will talk about that rather than simply bury their head in the sand, or kick the can down the road to borrow a phrase from Alan. Of course the way American works right now that straight talk could also be his undoing.

It's kind of interesting that he is officially staying out of the race. Strategy wise it might be brilliant. Skip all the debates while the rest of the field beats the crap out of each other and get in when that field is reduced to one or two. All the other voices have to split the stage 8 ways, but everywhere Christie goes he is center stage and in the limelight.


ETA: IrisLily = +1

iris lily
9-30-11, 11:10am
It just chaps me to hear Repub's go on and on about spending, when they just spent like crazy when they had things in their control not long ago. (Tax Cuts, 2 Wars, and a Prescription Drug Bill - the math didn't work.)
I know that's crying over spilled milk - but the GOP amnesia just burns me up.

I agree with this, it's still is very very annoying to me, too, as someone who votes Republican. But I like to think about what the country would be like without 9/11--that event set off a chain of grotesque spending, and whether you agree with it or not, it was the defining event in GW Bush's Presidency and it started when he was new in the job.

catherine
9-30-11, 11:37am
I think the job of president is so overwhelming. You have to REALLY want it. Christie just seems like he'd really prefer not to be president. That concerns me.

One of my personal barometers for evaluating future presidents is the Joie De Vivre meter. Anna Quindlen had a great op-ed piece in Newsweek right after Bush43 was sworn in. She said there's a halo or an aura around the presidents that infects the whole country for good or bad. In other words, the country seems to actually lift itself up and do better when the President loves his job. Conversely, we fall into malaise when the President doesn't seem to enjoy his job (she said that Carter took on the job as if he were doing the Stations of the Cross).

So think Kennedy / Reagan / Clinton = Camelot / prosperity
Carter / Nixon = down in the dumps

So, this way of looking at the best president cuts across party lines. I'm not convinced Obama loves his job, frankly. I think he's happy he won, but I don't see it in his eyes the way I did with Reagan and Clinton.

Looking at the current slate of Republicans: hmmm, who would transmit that joie de vivre? Any thoughts?

iris lily
9-30-11, 11:40am
...
Looking at the current slate of Republicans: hmmm, who would transmit that joie de vivre? Any thoughts?

Mitt wants it.

mtnlaurel
9-30-11, 12:56pm
Mitt wants it.

Yeah, but Mitt has the same effect on me as Kerry did -- as soon as they start talking I tune out.

Alan
9-30-11, 1:13pm
Unfortunately, politicians lie to us in order to get elected, and then continue to lie to us in order to keep their jobs. Our President lies to us, our Senators lie to us and our Representatives lie to us.
As far as I can tell, there's only two people who don't lie to us, and only one of those is running for President.

I'd love to see Christie throw his hat in the ring, then I'd have to decide between him and Herman Cain. I think both are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack and way better than our current President, so either would be a good choice for me.

Spartana
9-30-11, 2:04pm
I think Gov. Christie is probably the most straight up guy (not yet) in the race when it comes to facing reality. I think most all of us intuitively know that we are going to be facing some tough choices. He's one of very few high profile politicians that will talk about that rather than simply bury their head in the sand, or kick the can down the road to borrow a phrase from Alan. Of course the way American works right now that straight talk could also be his undoing.

It's kind of interesting that he is officially staying out of the race. Strategy wise it might be brilliant. Skip all the debates while the rest of the field beats the crap out of each other and get in when that field is reduced to one or two. All the other voices have to split the stage 8 ways, but everywhere Christie goes he is center stage and in the limelight.


ETA: IrisLily = +1

Ditto. While I don't know much about his political agenda (yet) I do like his straight foward, direct and even in your face style. He seems like a guy who could take an hour long Presidental Speech (which is usually 95% fluff and 5% substance) and pare it down to 5 minutes of actual useful info. Of course I can't get the vision out of my head of him walking down the hallowed halls of the white house dressed in a baby blue track suit and wearing loads of gold jewelry with a canoli in one hand and a Snooki in the other :-)! Shout to John Boehner "Yo, Gino, howz abouts youse guys voight on dis bill or else... capish?" OK, so much for Italian stereotypes :-)!

AnneM
9-30-11, 2:11pm
I'd love to see Christie throw his hat in the ring, then I'd have to decide between him and Herman Cain. I think both are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack and way better than our current President, so either would be a good choice for me.

+1

redfox
10-1-11, 2:34pm
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/01/3168335/commentary-no-place-for-science.html
An interesting editorial I got from the Kansas City Star, originally published in the Miami Herald. About The R's stance on science and public policy.

Gregg
10-3-11, 11:48am
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/01/3168335/commentary-no-place-for-science.html
An interesting editorial I got from the Kansas City Star, originally published in the Miami Herald. About The R's stance on science and public policy.

Interesting, yes, but again a piece concentrating the microscope on the fringe. As a more mainstream conservative I pretty much consider Bachmann, Perry, et al to be out on that fringe, or at least catering to it, when expounding such beliefs. While I have no doubt people who deny evolution exist, to be perfectly honest I have never met one. A large portion of my family hails from the south and most are devout Christians placing them in the bulls eye of such thinking, yet none of them (so far as I know) rejects evolution in favor of other theories or doctrines. I haven't been everywhere or seen everything so I'm truly curious, are there really so many people with strict creationist beliefs that a major party candidate actually could win a national election riding their coattails? Is there a source that accurately tracks these people in both numbers and locations?

redfox
10-3-11, 12:06pm
Interesting, yes, but again a piece concentrating the microscope on the fringe. As a more mainstream conservative I pretty much consider Bachmann, Perry, et al to be out on that fringe, or at least catering to it, when expounding such beliefs. While I have no doubt people who deny evolution exist, to be perfectly honest I have never met one. A large portion of my family hails from the south and most are devout Christians placing them in the bulls eye of such thinking, yet none of them (so far as I know) rejects evolution in favor of other theories or doctrines. I haven't been everywhere or seen everything so I'm truly curious, are there really so many people with strict creationist beliefs that a major party candidate actually could win a national election riding their coattails? Is there a source that accurately tracks these people in both numbers and locations?

I am very glad to hear this, Gregg.

Gregg
10-6-11, 9:28am
Time to concentrate on the Romney-Rubio ticket?

iris lily
10-6-11, 10:29am
Time to concentrate on the Romney-Rubio ticket?

ooooo, MArco for VP! I like that.

mtnlaurel
10-6-11, 11:13am
Time to concentrate on the Romney-Rubio ticket?

We can only hope Romney. I'd love to hear more from you all about Rubio - I don't know much about him yet.
With Christie not running, there is no doubt that I will be voting for Obama. Had Christie stayed in it would have been a real struggle for me.

Yet another election that the GOP almost snagged me. I was McCain all the way - based on his experience in the school of hard knocks politics (vs. Obama) and being once hypnotized by his 'straight talk express' - but then Palin??? My goodness, no WAY was I going to be an accomplice to her being one (old) heartbeat away from leading the free world -- to not even know what newspapers you need to at least say that you read on a daily basis is inexcusable.

Why would I have voted for Christie - b/c I think he has the v* to stand up to the obstructionists and get the GOP back on track and in the spirit of governing our country.



*http://thedamienzone.com/2011/10/05/betty-white-facebook-hoax-about-balls-and-vaginas/

KayLR
10-6-11, 4:01pm
"we don't want little autistic Timmy to suffer without services,"

I don't normally get involved with these political discussions; I DO like to peruse them to see if I can learn something. But THIS... this type of snark, I really do not appreciate. #reallyruffled

Alan
10-6-11, 4:14pm
"we don't want little autistic Timmy to suffer without services,"

I don't normally get involved with these political discussions; I DO like to peruse them to see if I can learn something. But THIS... this type of snark, I really do not appreciate. #reallyruffled

Then I think you should be "#reallyruffled" at the President for saying the same thing in his budget speech several months ago. Of course, it was probably OK then because he was railing against the Ryan budget plan and scaring people by saying things like Republicans are trying to take services away from poor children with Down Syndrome and Autism.

And if it still bothers you now that you know where the snark started, please remember when it counts, November 2012.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/04/14/obamas-budget-deficit-speech-shows-hes-willing-to-say-anything

KayLR
10-6-11, 4:21pm
Guess it doesn't matter where snark comes from in my opinion, Alan. I still don't like it. Why don't you try your own material some time.

Alan
10-6-11, 4:41pm
Guess it doesn't matter where snark comes from in my opinion, Alan. I still don't like it. Why don't you try your own material some time.
Sometimes, when you're making a point, you have to reference others, especially if you're not snarky enough on your own to really do justice to our elected officials statements.

I think my mistake is in assuming that others will get the reference on their own.

iris lily
10-7-11, 2:43am
"we don't want little autistic Timmy to suffer without services,"

I don't normally get involved with these political discussions; I DO like to peruse them to see if I can learn something. But THIS... this type of snark, I really do not appreciate. #reallyruffled

I'm dense, what is it that ruffles you about this?

KayLR
10-7-11, 1:24pm
No, not dense...you can't read my mind. My grandson lives with autism.

Alan
10-7-11, 1:38pm
No, not dense...you can't read my mind. My grandson lives with autism.

I can certainly relate, my oldest grandson lives with the chromosomal disorders Kleinfelter's Syndrome and Trisomy 9. That's why I was particularly incensed to have our President use our special needs children as a point of demagoguery. I apologize if my sarcasm on that point struck too close to home.

creaker
10-7-11, 3:06pm
I can certainly relate, my oldest grandson lives with the chromosomal disorders Kleinfelter's Syndrome and Trisomy 9. That's why I was particularly incensed to have our President use our special needs children as a point of demagoguery. I apologize if my sarcasm on that point struck too close to home.

I've watched services get vandalized for years in the name of cutting budgets, I have an adult son with autism.