Here’s the man himself on Fox News Sunday:
“There are reasons why conservatives had disagreements with Chris Christie, I don’t think that the tea party is going to seize upon Fort Lee and the George Washington Bridge as their defining difference with Christie,” Rove opined. “In fact, I think his handling of this, being straightforward, taking action — saying, ‘I’m responsible’ — firing the people probably gives him some street cred with some tea party Republicans, who say that’s what we want in a leader, somebody who steps up and takes responsibility.”
The scandal doesn’t prove anything one way or the other, except perhaps to confirm what people always suspected about New Jersey politics. Or politics in general — everybody knows it ain’t beanbag. What we do know for sure is that Christie has put himself on a tightrope which the MSM and/or DNC (but I repeat myself) will be happy to knock him off of. There is no net.
Conservatives and Tea Party types would probably help with the push, if it turns out that Christie is lying about not knowing until last week what was going on. But Rove is right when he says it’s not our “defining difference.” Christie is probably as conservative as anyone who could get elected in New Jersey, but unless he and his donor base buy his way to the GOP nomination, he is simply too far to the left to win it. Christie makes Mitt Romney look like Ronald Reagan and that is our defining difference with him.
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