• Chris Christie,  Mike Huckabee,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin

    President 2012 New Jersey GOP Poll Watch: Romney 13% Christie 12% Palin 11% Huckabee 6%

    Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

    Here are the results:

    Undoubtedly, should Governor Chris Christie decide to run for the Presidency, he would poll much higher. But, while Mitt Romney does a little better than Christie he is not very far ahead of Sarah Palin.

    Here is a more expanded breakdown of the results:

    A very blue Democratic State, New jersey does not figure to be in play for the GOP versus President Obama.

    Looking toward the 2012 presidential election, nearly half the state’s registered voters (48 percent) say President Barack Obama deserves re-election, while 39 percent disagree.

    Republicans are split on an opponent, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 12 percent, Christie at 11 percent, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin receiving 10 percent support.

    Forty-two percent did not name a candidate

    The sample of this poll is very small and its relevance is questionable. But it illustrates there is no GOP front runner.

  • Chris Christie,  John Huntsman,  Mitch Daniels,  Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin,  Tim Pawlenty

    President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Insiders Poll Hot on Mitch Daniels and Tim Pawlenty – NOT Hot on Sarah Palin

    According to the latest National Journal “Insiders” poll.

    In the view of Democratic and Republican political operatives, the potential 2012 GOP White House hopefuls whose fortunes are most on the rise are Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, while former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a rapidly depreciating asset, according to this week’s National Journal Political Insiders Poll.

    While no Republican could-be candidate towered above the field, GOP Insiders focused on Daniels and Pawlenty as two whose stock has been rising in recent months, but for very different reasons. Daniels, who has taken few overt steps towards mounting a national campaign, is seen as someone who could champion the Republican themes of shrinking government and cutting spending and also has the record in Indiana to back up that message in a campaign. “The more it becomes about deficit reduction, the better he does,” said one GOP Insider. Even Daniels’ serious demeanor is considered a positive. “Increasingly seen as the anti-Obama — no flash and slogans, but real leadership and a plan,” swooned another Republican.

    Pawlenty was rated equally well by GOP Insiders who have been impressed by his disciplined courtship of the party faithful in the early caucus and primary states. Pawlenty is also viewed as a candidate who is acceptable to a broad range of Republicans and has relatively little political baggage. “[He] continues to methodically define himself as the mainstream conservative Republican who can appeal to traditional and new Republican activists,” said one GOP Insider. “Daniels may not run because of family, Barbour has proven surprisingly tone deaf, Gingrich has failed to turn around the marital issue, Palin excites her core group and is unacceptable to everyone else, Romney-care has become the mark of death for Romney,” noted another GOP Insider. “It looks more and more as though everyone has a fatal weakness, other than Pawlenty.”

    Democrats generally concurred and saw Daniels as an “adult” and Pawlenty as “organized.”

    Agreed.

    As the GOP primary season heats up, voters will be looking for someone new – not Mitt Romney and not Newt Gingrich. 

    Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (if he runs), former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (if he runs) would fit the bill.

    Note: The “Insiders” are NOT too high on Sarah Palin.

  • Chris Christie

    Video: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – The Choice

    Governor Chris Christie web video. “The Choice”. March 7, 2011.

    So, tell me Governor Christie is releasing the video to Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post and he is NOT thinking about running for the Presidency?

    In other words, he gave the legislature a choice: If the legislature actually passes the health-benefit reform proposal that Christie unveiled in September, they can double the property tax rebate for New Jersey taxpayers.

    This has been Christie’s pattern to date: Make a compelling conservative policy proposal, put the ball in the Democrats’ court, use his rock star status and communication skills to turn up the heat and force the Democrats to, in his words, “make a choice.” It was an effective approach in passing his first budget.

    But is this only about his budget? For those who are thinking maybe, just maybe, there might be more to his video productions than just New Jersey politics, his latest video will only fuel those suspicious — and give hope to near-desperate Republicans looking the an impressive 2012 presidential candidate. It is this type of impressive media imaging that made Christie a GOP favorite, and might, if he wins another round with the state legislature, increase the pleas for him to throw his hat into the 2012 presidential ring. And if he succeeds in pushing through his agenda, it will be increasingly hard to believe, as he has said to put off those urging his nomination, that he isn’t “ready” to be president. If not him, who? If not 2012, when?

    You know, Chris Christie has only been the New Jersey Governor for a year but was the New Jersey United States Attorney for over six years. As an attorney and POL he has plenty of executive experience – certainly more than Senator Obama when he won the Presidency.

    It might be time to strike, Governor, when the iron is hot.

  • Chris Christie,  Haley Barbour,  Jon Huntsman,  Mitch Daniels,  Mitt Romney,  President 2012,  Tim Pawlenty

    President 2012: Republicans Looking for the Anti-Romney Presidential Candidate?

    Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Values Voter Summit on Sept. 17, 2010, in Washington

    Such astute punditry from the Los Angeles Times this morning – NOT.

    Isn’t it obvious?

    1. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels
    2. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour
    3. Former Utah Gov. and departing ambassador to China Jon Huntsman
    4. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
    5. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty
  • Chris Christie,  Polling,  President 2012,  Rudy Giuliani

    President 2012 Poll Watch: Who’s HOT and Who is NOT – The National Thermometer

    Quinnipiac University National Thermometer poll is out.

    The Quinnipiac University poll asked voters to rate leaders from 0 to 100 degrees on a “feeling thermometer,” with the highest numbers reflecting the warmest feelings. The mean scores and the percent who said they did not know enough about the people to rate them are:

    The most interesting HOTS to me are Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie. The other potential GOP Presidential candidates are NOT so hot.

  • Chris Christie,  Mitch Daniels

    President 2012: Chris Christie -“I Already Know I Could Win the White House” But Wouldn’t Be Ready or Something

    Here are the extended quotes of the New Jersey Governor from Rich Lowry over at National Review.

    Yes. Believe me, I’ve been interested in politics my whole life. I see the opportunity. But I just don’t believe that’s why you run. Like I said at AEI, I have people calling me and saying to me, “Let me explain to you how you could win.” And I’m like, “You’re barking up the wrong tree. I already know I could win.” That’s not the issue. The issue is not me sitting here and saying, “Geez, it might be too hard. I don’t think I can win.” I see the opportunity both at the primary level and at the general election level. I see the opportunity.

    But I’ve got to believe I’m ready to be president, and I don’t. And I think that that’s the basis you have to make that decision. I think when you have people who make the decision just based upon seeing the opportunity you have a much greater likelihood that you’re going to have a president who is not ready. And then we all suffer from that. Even if you’re a conservative, if your conservative president is not ready, you’re not going to be good anyway because you’re going to get rolled all over the place in that town.

    I just see how much better I get at this job every day, and I do, and I learn things. If not every day, at least every week. And my wife and I were actually talking about this last night. We had dinner together with the family after the [New Jersey budget] speech and she was saying how much better she thought I was yesterday than I had been before in my speech. She said, “You are getting better.”

    That’s just the nature of life. So, I see the opportunity, I recognize and understand it and I’m really flattered that people think of me that way. But, if I don’t believe it in here [pointing to his heart], I’m not going to be a good candidate on top of everything else.

    And remember in the context of sitting there on election night 2009, and my wife and I were convinced we were going to lose. It is a bit to get your arms around, too. You’re a successful United States attorney and then within a year of that time you have people talking about you and I was running around campaigning for folks. All of these handmade “Christie for President” signs in the crowds when I was in Michigan and Iowa and all the other places that I went, Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida. It’s also been overwhelming, too.

    Like I said before, I am who I am and people have to trust, they don’t have to but they should trust, my instincts on this. I know me better than anyone else knows me. If I felt like I was ready, I’d go, but I’m not. But I’m also not going to go if I don’t think I’m ready.

    When I walked into the Governor’s office last January there have been some difficult days in the job. There has never been a day where I’ve felt like I’m over my head, I don’t know what to do, I’m lost. I don’t know whether I’d feel the same way if I walked into the Oval Office a year and a half from now. So, unless you get yourself to the point where you really believe you have a shot to be successful, then I don’t think you have any business running for it.

    But, sometimes Governor fate enters into the equation and you have to be more confident. I think you should consider the race and so should Mitch Daniels.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for February 28th from 08:46 to 09:15

    These are my links for February 28th from 08:46 to 09:15:

    • Social media not so hot on the Hill – It raises the question: Are lawmakers putting too much time — or staff resources — into social media?

      Currently, only 8 percent of American adults who use the Internet use Twitter, according to a December 2010 study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

      “The ease at which constituents can communicate with their member has really diluted the quality of communications overall,” said one legislative director quoted in the study. “We get way too many e-mail inputs that forward the congressman some e-mail or YouTube link with ‘Is this true?’ as the only message.”

      But that hasn’t stopped new members such as Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) from embracing as many social media outlets as possible.

      “We have Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook — we’re trying to be in any medium we can,” said his spokeswoman, Stefani Zimmerman. “If it means he’s going to stay up an hour later checking his Facebook, that’s what he’s going to do.”

      +++++++

      Read it all.

      Probably because the Reps and Senators REALLY don't want to hear a critique of their jobs in real time.

      Social media also makes them more accountable to others outside their district who may fund opposition party candidates or a primary challenge.

      The Emperor Has No Clothes with social media.

    • Speaker John Boehner rips bid to regulate Internet – House Speaker John A. Boehner lashed out against efforts to regulate Internet traffic before an audience of evangelical Christian media leaders and pointedly responded to President Obama by comparing the challenge of the burgeoning national debt to the Sputnik-era space race.

      In a speech to religious broadcasters that received a sustained ovation at his conclusion, he said free expression is under attack by a power structure in Washington populated with regulators who have never set foot inside a radio station or a television studio.

      “We see this threat in how the FCC is creeping further into the free market by trying to regulate the Internet,” Mr. Boehner said.

      “The last thing we need, in my view, is the FCC serving as Internet traffic controller, and potentially running roughshod over local broadcasters who have been serving their communities with free content for decades,” he said to loud applause from members of the National Religious Broadcasters, a trade group holding its annual convention here.

      +++++++

      Read it all

      The Obama Administration is going into overdrive to regulate more of the economy, including the internet.

    • Cuban vs. Bissinger: NBA owner and journalist have Twitter smackdown – What happens when a billionaire entrepreneur and NBA team owner uses Twitter to criticize an outspoken Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist?

      Followers of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and author and Daily Beast columnist Buzz Bissinger found out Sunday. The result: A profanity-laced, 86-tweet rant by Bissinger that took place over a span of four hours. The two then set up — using Twitter, of course — a face-to-face meeting for Tuesday.

      It started Sunday when Cuban tweeted that Bissinger was "a coward." The tweet was sent in response to Bissinger's Feb. 17 column titled "NBA All-Star Game: White Men Can't Root." The piece doesn't mention Cuban, but argues that there's a race problem between the NBA and its white fans.

      "Are whites losing interest in a game in which the number of white American players not only continues to dwindle, but no longer features a superstar?" Bissinger wrote. "Yes."

      After Cuban's "coward" comment, Bissinger rattled off a couple dozen tweets and responded to users in true Bissinger form (plenty of cursing).

      Cuban eventually returned to Twitter with a comment directed at Bissinger's column: "Yr editor asked you to write about a topic you dont know & had no interest in researching…"

      At this point Daily Beast editor, and former Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz chimed in: "Hey, @mcuban, I asked @buzzbissinger to write *something* about basketball, but he chose the racial topic, knowing it'd be controversial."

      +++++++

      Ha Ha!

      I blocked Mark Cuban early in Twitter adoption.

      As Yoda would say: A JERK he is.

    • Chris Christie on Wisconsin, Scott Walker and Collective Bargaining – Asked if Gov. Scott Walker has "gone too far," Christie responded:

      Bob, let me tell you what — what went on in New Jersey. My predecessor, Governor Corzine, stood on the front steps of the Capitol at a public-sector union rally and said, "I'll fight to get you a good contract." And I thought to myself, watching that, who's he fighting with? Once he says that, the fight's over. What I believe in is true adversarial collective bargaining. And so, every state is different. I'm not going to micromanage Wisconsin from Trenton, New Jersey. I know Scott Walker. I like him. And I trust him. And I think he believe he's doing what's in the best interest of Wisconsin, the same way I'm going to do what I think needs to be done for New Jersey, which is, to reform the pension system and roll back health benefits for public-sector workers, to put them more in line with the rest of the population in New Jersey, to put us on a long-term path to fiscal stability.
      But aren't collective bargaining rights inviolate? Christie, a former U.S. attorney reminds us:

      Now listen. All these rights are legislatively created. They didn't come down from tablets at the top of a mountain. And so, political things change and go back and forth. And every state is going to make their own determination on that. Wisconsin is in the middle of making that determination. As you know, Bob, there are plenty of states in America where that right doesn't exist. And so, each state has to make their own determination on that.

      But it's not the legal precision of the answer that is exceptional. What stands out is his utter candor. I frankly can't imagine another politician debunking the notion that public employees have a God-given right to collectively bargain.

      +++++++

      Read it all.

      Agreed

  • Chris Christie

    Video: Chris Christie Addresses the American Enterprise Institute and Lays Out a National Vision

    Well, Ann Coulter wants New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to run for President and now Christie who says he is NOT running shows up in DC with a national agenda speech.

    Gov. Chris Christie today delivered a broadside against the broken politics of Washington and the need for straight talk to solve the country’s problems in a speech that will stoke talk of a 2012 presidential bid by the New Jersey Republican.

    “I look at what’s happening in Washington right now and I am worried,” said Christie in an address at the American Enterprise Institute. “What game is being played down here is irresponsible and it’s dangerous.”

    Asked whether he would consider running for president in 2012, Christie acknowledged that he “see[s] the opportunity” but quickly added: “That’s not a reason to be president of the United States.”

    And yet, Christie’s speech, which spanned roughly 45 minutes, had all the traditional markers of someone eyeing national office.

    “Leadership today in America has to be about doing the big things and being courageous,” said Christie. At another point, Christie argued that “we have to bring a new approach and a new discipline to this.”

    The national GOP could use Chris Christie but he must be vetted more. If indeed, he decides to open up discussions of a Presidential candidacy, his opponents will certainly do it for him.

    But, for now, Christie is a breath of fresh air and believe me on the Presidential stage, the GOP could use it.

  • Chris Christie,  Mike Pence,  Mitch Daniels,  Sarah Palin

    William Kristol: The 2012 GOP Nomination is Too Important to Waste

    So, about whom is Bill Kristol referring?

    • Sarah Palin – who Kristol has said will NOT run
    • Mitch Daniels
    • Mike Pence
    • Chris Christie

    What do you think?

    The 2012 GOP presidential nomination is too important to waste. And it’s too important for candidates who might be successful to pass up. Any Republican leader who cares about the future of the country, and who thinks it’s possible he or she might be the best nominee, should keep an open mind about running. Donors, activists and citizens should keep an open mind about who would prove to be the best nominee, and watch to see how they all perform–in Congress, in statehouses, in debates, and on the stump–over the next year. It’s worth getting this nomination right.

    Flap’s Answer: All of the above

  • Chris Christie,  Debra Saunders

    Sarah Palin’s “Blood Libel” and the OFF Button

    New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

    I think Governor Christie is echoing what Charles Krauthammer said yesterday on Fox News that Sarah Palin’s Blood Libel Facebook post and video were unnecessary.

    Harsher treatment is given by conservative columnist Debra Saunders.

    That is, until Wednesday when Palin released her video, which turned the spotlight back on her and added a new element. Now cable TV news can noodle over whether Palin was deliberately provocative or clueless in using the words “blood libel” – a term coined to describe the spurious and ancient charge that Jews murdered non-Jewish children and then drank their blood in rituals. (And yes, I know a Wall Street Journal opinion piece used the same term Monday.)

    The sorry episode confirmed the suspicion that Palin is addicted to getting attention, while her boosters are addicted to defending every thoughtless utterance she releases. And even her boosters know what most Republicans know: Palin is not a serious thinker.

    With her Tweets and Facebook pronouncements, she’s become a virtuoso at pressing liberal buttons. It’s too bad that, like the people who live to hate her, she doesn’t know how to stop.

    This is fair criticism of Sarah Palin and I think as a defining moment in politics, the Tucson shooting may have directed the GOP away from a Sarah Palin Presidential candidacy.