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United States News Title: Gov. Chris Christie calls for Republican Party rebranding Gov. Chris Christie calls for Republican Party rebranding By MAGGIE HABERMAN & BEN SMITH | 6/30/10 7:06 AM EDT In an interview with POLITICO, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie outlines a path for the GOP to rebrand as the party keeping 'our eye on the cash register.' AP Digg/Buzz It UpDigg this Story!Buzz it up!Add to LinkedIn.POLITICO 44New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday in an interview with POLITICO outlined a path for the GOP to rebrand as the party keeping "our eye on the cash register, while also praising some Democrats for taking the right approach to tackling major issues like education. Christie, a darling of conservatives after staring down Democrats over the budget and tax cuts, demonstrated his own distinct brand of conservatism over a breakfast interview. Without naming names, the seven-year former federal prosecutor took a shot at politicians who simply resort to demagoguery on controversial - and complex - topics such as illegal immigration. The sit-down came hours after the newly-minted governor returned home from passing the Garden States budget, a plan that mostly reflected what hed spent months pushing for, but one that also cost him some of his popularity in the polls. Christie has generally avoided talking about national issues in his first six months in office. But he urged President Barack Obama to take the lead on immigration reform, and said he should keep speaking out on teachers union reforms, an issue that has made the New Jersey governor a controversial figure as hes aggressively fought for changes in his home state. But he also took positions more closely aligned with some centrist Democrats on issues such as immigration an issue he said falls victim to demagoguery too easily and one thats a national problem. Asked over a breakfast of eggs with cream cheese, scallion and whole wheat toast but no coffee, which he steers clear of what he thought Republicans should run on, Christie suggested charting a course of fiscal conservatism. They should be talking about treating people like adults and telling them the truth: were in huge trouble, he said. And its going to mean cutting back on a lot of things that folks either have become used to or in a perfect world would like to have. He added, Republicans have to rebrand themselves credibly with the candidates they run, and what they espouse, as the person who will keep an eye on the cash register, who will rein in the spending and the debt. Christie said that is the path he is pursuing in New Jersey, which is really a blue state, so I dont understand why it wouldnt appeal all across the country. I mean, nobodys asking my advice, but if they did, thats what I would say to them. Christies budget cleared after a legislative battle in which he won the bare minimum of Democratic votes he needed to get it through. Now, hes calling back the legislature to focus on his 2.5 percent property tax cap proposal, which hed like to see put on the ballot this fall a move that requires lawmakers approval. He was taking something of a victory lap Monday and Tuesday, with a small handful of interviews and a video release about his new-tax-free budget entitled, They said it couldnt be done. On the union front, he said, I think what you see now is that our teachers union is growingly unpopular because theyre inflexible and they believe that theyre entitled to be shielded completely from the recession. (The union, meanwhile, argues that hes unfairly targeting some of the lowest-paid workers around and singling them out for budgetary pain). But he also suggested hes seeing a schism, not just within the Democratic Party over this issue, but between public sector and private sector labor groups. I think what you see is a divide in the union movement, he said, adding that groups like the New Jersey building trades are struggling with high unemployment rates for their members and equally high property taxes and they know that the driver for that is the 4 or 5 percent salary (hikes) for public workers. I know its been a third rail before, he said, but added that if he didnt fight it, the other battles wouldnt be very meaningful. Like other Republicans nationally, Christie said he views Obama as an ally on education reform and in the push to force the teachers union to make changes. The idea of Christie, a rising GOP star who won despite the White Houses best efforts to defeat him in 2009, and Obama as collaborators isnt as incongruous as it seemsmany Democrats privately acknowledge that Obamas push for Race to the Top funding created a climate in which unions are no longer a protected political class. What Ive said to folks is, were at a unique moment in history where you have conservative Republican governors
whos never been able to get traction against the teachers union, but now youve got a Democratic president and (his) Secretary of Education talking the same talk, he said. On the hot-button topic of immigration reform, he said he has long declined to demagogue the issue as a former U.S. Attorney, because I come from law enforcement and its not an easy issue. But he did intimate that he thinks stringent state-by-state laws such as in Arizona are the wrong approach, and added, I think President Obama doesnt do this at his own risk because its affecting the economy in the country
to me, I think the presidents really gotta show the leadership on this. This is a federal problem, its gotta have a federal fix, he said. Im not really comfortable with state law enforcement having a big role. He said that without border security, enforcement of existing laws and a clear path to legalization for immigrants, there would never be a fix. At the heart of Christies appeal, both within the state and outside its border, is an unfiltered, straightforward approach that is startlingly different from many of his gubernatorial colleagues. He achieved YouTube fame for a video in which he dressed down a local reporter who regularly covers him for asking a question about temperament but Christie insisted that he wasnt falling victim to the prosecutorial demons that haunted Rudy Giuliani and Eliot Spitzer when they became mayor and governor of New York, respectively. Its not a struggle, its just an awareness you have to keep of the differences in the two jobs, he said, adding that he had commented before the voting began on his budget that the U.S. Attorney job was much easier, there was no democracy. I was the boss, I made the decisions. When I said go, [wed] go; when I said stop, [wed] stop. He added, Im surrounded every day with the realization, especially having a Democratic majority in the legislature, that, you know, pushing people arounds not whats gonna do it. Now, I have a forceful personality and I say things pretty bluntly, he added. But I think theres a big difference between that and bullying. I just speak candidly. And I think lots of times the press has a real difficult time kind of processing that differential. Bullying is a particular act. Speaking forcefully is something different. For me, I dont worry about it. Am I conscious of it? Of course. He then volunteered, Also remember this, I wasnt a prosecutor my whole life. I mean, Rudy was a prosecutor his whole career
.it was in his DNA. I mean, I can remember talking to him during the campaign when he was helping me, and he was saying, Wasnt listening to those tapes the greatest thing in the world when you were U.S. Attorney? He added that his stint was seven years, compared to Giulianis near-lifetime in government, and said, I dont think its as much baked into who I am as it might be with him. Giuliani spent lots of time as a surrogate for Christie during last years race, and his 1993 mayoral win and successive budget-cutting battles are often suggested as a model for the governorlike Giuliani, the rare species of a successful Northeastern Republican. Christie himself insisted hes not following a model other than what he sees as common sense, and said he and the former mayor dont speak a lot now. But he said Giuliani was very helpful to him and added, Hes (been) very good to me. Despite his obvious interest in national issues, he said he wont be carving out areas on which to speak out especially because his goal, after being governor, as he put it, is to make money and not to run for president, as some Republicans hoped he would. No, Ive got enough to do in New Jersey, he said. I think the more you then talk about the [national] stuff, then the more it undercuts the credibility that you dont want to be involved. Read more: www.politico.com/news/sto..._Page3.html#ixzz0sLUF60aF
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#1. To: Badeye (#0)
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA Hey! How about this: The GObP. We will never desert you. LMFAO As they realize, the GOP has no future. Just like their Corporations. Planet Killers.
He's kicking ass in New Jersey, and I believe he'll win reelection easily when the time comes.
News Update: Owe-bama ordered eggs and toast for breakfast. ABC/NBC/CBS/MSNBC/CNN all agree the decision to avoid bagels was 'Brilliant!' (eyes rolling)
Chuckles...he's hated there. The Dems gave him the last nail. Services are already being cut. One guy I work with has about two weeks to move his Mom out of one facility and into a new one because they had to cut their bed count. The tax increases he has called for too are targetted to choke off business. Plus, he's obese...
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
I saw him on TV yesterday. You're correct.
Famous exchange from Tommy Boy: Frat BoyA: "Am I just severely wasted, or does Tommy look bloated?" #67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace I'm biased, obviously, given the shit I'm subjected to daily here from the anti groupie. Badeye posted on 2010-06-10 11:34:31 ET Reply Trace Private Reply
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