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Title: As New Jersey's Christie Campaigns, a 2016 Strategy Emerges (Banana Republican)
Source:
The Wall Street Journal
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles ... 702303618904579169991120970438
Published: Nov 1, 2013
Author: Heather Haddon and Neil King Jr
Post Date: 2013-11-01 09:17:57 by Hondo68
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Keywords: None
Views: 3441
Comments: 5
Gov. Chris Christie at New Jersey's Hispanic State Parade on Oct. 6. Peter J. Smith for The Wall Street Journal As he crisscrosses New Jersey in a final campaign push, Republican Gov. Chris Christie has made clear to donors, top supporters and the national GOP that he wants to do more than just notch a big re-election win next Tuesday. He sees his campaign—and particularly his aggressive outreach to nontraditional GOP voters—as a national model for his party. Racking up big margins among women and even winning outright among Hispanics, as polls suggest he may, would position him well in a 2016 Republican presidential field as the party continues to struggle elsewhere to widen its appeal. Retired NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal voices his support for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in an ad released Sunday by the Republican candidate's gubernatorial campaign. (Photo/Video: ChristieforNJ.com) "Christie should have a strong case starting next week that his appeal among all types of Americans establishes him as an instant Republican front-runner for 2016, should he decide to run," said Fred Malek, a longtime GOP adviser with deep ties to national donors. Mr. Christie's apparent crossover appeal isn't guaranteed to work in other parts of the country, where his efforts to reach out to core Democratic groups may not play as well with more conservative GOP voters. The lineup of contenders could change between now and 2016, and Mr. Christie hasn't formally declared himself a candidate. But the governor has long tried to build support among minority voters and other constituencies—not for his future national ambitions, aides said, but to deliver a resounding victory against his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono. "This is a model for the party in general," said Bill Palatucci, Mr. Christie's campaign chairman and a national GOP committeeman. "His message is that you can't come to any community and ask for them to vote for you a month before the election." Those efforts have been on vivid display this week as he conducts a seven-day campaign bus tour through the state. On Wednesday, a stop at an ethnically Indian commercial strip brought out women in saris and dozens of business owners, who played ceremonial drums and snapped photos. On Thursday, he visited a Hispanic-owned formalwear store in Vineland, a South Jersey city that is 38% Latino and home to one of the campaign's Spanish-language outreach offices. "This is what I feel comfortable doing, the kind of campaign I wanted to run and the kind of administration I've run," Mr. Christie said when asked Wednesday about the focus on diversity. "I'm just doing what I want to do." The governor has already begun to amass a significant national donor base, with big GOP fundraisers like Home Depot Inc. co-founder Ken Langone firmly in his corner, according to Christie advisers. This month, he will take over as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a perch that others have used in recent years to expand their contacts across the country. In what promises to be a heated 2016 primary contest, Mr. Christie would likely face sustained fire from more-conservative potential rivals such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, at a time when many in the party are debating whether it should play more to the center or hew to its activist base. His record in New Jersey could come under fire, as the state has been slow to recover from the recession, and he couldn't deliver on an income-tax cut promise last year. Some Republicans—citing examples such as Hillary Clinton, who failed to win the Democratic nomination in 2008—question whether electability itself is necessarily a winning pitch. "The electability argument in primaries never has as much salience as a lot of people think," said Steve Bogden, a former adviser to the presidential campaign of onetime Republican candidate Jon Huntsman. There are also questions about whether Mr. Christie could take his appeal to Democratic constituencies to the national level from New Jersey, where he has brokered deals that have earned him trust with some local Democrats. Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats in New Jersey by 700,000, but recent polls have shown the governor with a big lead over Ms. Buono, a Democrat with nearly two decades spent in the state capital. Mr. Christie's response to superstorm Sandy last year and his ability to work across the aisle are at the heart of his campaign. He also has been blunt in criticizing conservatives in Washington for the fallout from the recent government shutdown. The true hallmark of his re-election bid, though, is its focus on recruiting support from traditional Democratic constituencies. He has sparred with public-sector unions over pensions and benefits, but has split the organized-labor vote in public polls and picked up the backing of 26 labor and building-trade organizations for the election. The campaign has put together coalitions of African-American, Asian, Jewish and Hispanic supporters. On Sunday, the campaign released a TV ad featuring former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, a Newark native who is African-American. Mr. O'Neal called Mr. Christie "a great man." Mr. Christie in 2009 earned 9% of the vote among blacks and 32% among Hispanics, according to exit polls. Surveys now show him running more or less even among Hispanics and getting as much as a third of the black vote. In last year's presidential contest, Republican Mitt Romney got just 7% support among blacks and 27% among Latinos. His Hispanic outreach effort is the most elaborate, with a full-time state director and delegates in each of the state's 21 counties. Mr. Christie is an unlikely magnet for Latino voters. He upset some Hispanic leaders when he vetoed legislation raising the minimum wage this year. "Governor Christie can try to change history all he wants, but he has been terrible for New Jersey's Hispanic community," said a Buono campaign spokesman, who faulted Mr. Christie over the minimum wage and other issues. But some Latino leaders say they like the governor's blunt style and support his stances on taxes, school vouchers and immigration reform. He surprised a Hispanic audience last month when said he would back allowing undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition rates.
Poster Comment: UN flags growing out of his belly, isn't going to help.
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#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
I'm old enough to remember when the idea was that conservatism was not only right,but that the idea was to win elections by convincing the voting public that conservatism was the only hope of keeping the country free. Now the only idea being proposed is do whatever you have to do to get elected,and to hell with such old-fashioned ideas as integrity and doing what is right for the country. And the alleged Republicans will continue to lose as long as they run and legislate like the Dim Left. Why would idiots vote for you when they can vote for the real thing? EVERY time the public has been given a clear choice between voting for a actual conservative or voting for a Dim,they have voted for the conservative. This has been true ever since Reagan.
The voters are dumber than you're giving them credit for. In '88 faced with a choice between Poppy Bush, Dukakas, and Ron Paul... Poppy! In '92 the choices were, Ross Perot, Poppy, Bubba Clinton... Bubba! In 2000, Buchanan, W. Bush, Al Gore.... Boosh! Maybe Ron, Ross and Pat, ain't your ideal conservatives, but they're pretty good IMO.
IMHO,that was because we were coming off the glory days of Reagan,and Poppy was riding his coattails. In '92 the choices were, Ross Perot, Poppy, Bubba Clinton... Bubba! Ironically enough,Bubba WAS more conservative that either that bastard Perot or that bastard Poppy. Which is NOT the same thing as saying he was an actual conservative. In 2000, Buchanan, W. Bush, Al Gore.... Boosh! That was a choice between a clown,a idiot,and a outright retard. I see nobody there even close to being conservative. Yeah,Pat did have his moments,but the FACT remains he had ZERO support from the RNC for most of what he was trying to sell,and his personal record of getting things done hovers right at zero. The man was full of theories,and completely absent of experience and the support of people that thought like he did and who owed him favors that would have backed him up. Face it,Pat never worked a real job his entire life. He was a lifelong Beltway Bandit that ran around telling people to "buy American" while he and his sister were driving their Mercedes Benz cars to dinners and speeches. And worse,it came as a shock to both of them that anybody would complain about what they were driving. Talk about being out of touch!
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#4. To: sneakypete (#1)
EVERY time the public has been given a clear choice between voting for a actual conservative or voting for a Dim,they have voted for the conservative.
#5. To: hondo68 (#4)
In '88 faced with a choice between Poppy Bush, Dukakas, and Ron Paul... Poppy!
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