Christie Offers No 2012 Clues

28 September 2011 |permalink | email article

The governor of New Jersey has become swept up in a high-stake guessing game of will-he-or-won’t he become a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. On Tuesday night at the Reagan Library in Southern California’s Simi Valley he gave an address on “Real American Exceptionalism” – a phrase of increasing political usage – about sacrifice and leadership. He attacked President Obama but offered no hints about a possible run.

“A lot has been said in this election season about American exceptionalism. Implicit in such statements is that we are different and, yes, better in the sense that our democracy, our economy and our people have delivered. But for American exceptionalism to truly deliver hope and a sterling example to the rest of the world, it must be demonstrated, not just asserted.” For Christie, the present intense speculation has great potential rewards – and also risks. The governor in 2013 will face a tough re-election bid in a state that often leans Democratic, and a drawn-out national flirtation could aid his opponents.

Buffett Rule

Republicans argue against raising taxes for millionaires as part of the debt reduction package because they are job creators and economic growth. Paying more taxes to the government, goes the refrain, is unfair. But a Kos/SEIU weekly survey question asked whether respondents support or oppose ensuring that people making over a million dollars a year pay the same percentage of taxes or more of their total income as those who make less than a million. The result: 73 percent support the idea, including 66 percent of Republicans, and even 52 percent of tea partiers.

Ryan: End Medicare

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan lives in a parallel universe. In a speech at Stanford University’s conservative Hoover Institution he offered a recitation of his controversial, alternative vision for the country’s social safety net. While House Republicans have taken a beating for overwhelmingly adopting his approach to phasing out Medicare. But Ryan, a fanatical political zealot, insists that now is the time for conservatives and GOP candidates to double down and renew their support for that vision, not to walk away from it. He believes that once his message got out people listened. Well, not really!

Quotable

“It’s like the Republican primary season is a season of American idol in reverse, where every week you add another idiot. Republican base…have you ever considered the possibility that maybe your candidates aren’t the problem. Maybe it’s you?” – Jon Stewart to GOP voters

“I don’t know if Christie can ride a horse, but this movie’s not over yet. – Eugene Robertson, Washington Post

 

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