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Chris Christie Will Either Commit Suicide or Run for President
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 17, 2011
Modified Feb 17, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 17, 2011
Modified Feb 17, 2011
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'Tis the season for Republican presidential hopefuls to spuriously deny that they are interested in becoming the President of Losing to Obama in 2012. But no one can out-hyperbole New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who for the second time on Wednesday told journalists that "short of suicide, I don't really know what I'd have to do to convince you people that I'm not running. I'm not running." Someone should confiscate the Governor's Dashboard Confessional CDs.
SO LEAVE CHRIS CHRISTIE ALONE! Let him give fiery speeches bemoaning the "dangerous game" being played in Washington at conservative DC think tanks in peace! Which is exactly what he did yesterday, at the American Enterprise Institute. Careful to avoid the annual conservative conclave CPAC a few days earlier, Christie gave a speech entitled "It's Time to Do Big Things," in which he blasted unions, proposed raising the retirement age for Social Security, and insisted that he "will not take responsibility for leaving a generation of children behind in America. I won't do it."
He name-checked Michelle Rhee! Proposed reshaping Medicare! Criticized high speed rail and electric cars as "the candy of American politics!" (and Christie sure knows a thing to two about candy, amirite?) Plus he still wants to evict the cast of The Jersey Shore! Thus we get the obligatory "Chris Christie's Moment is Now" Politico story, which rightfully paints Christie as pushing his "classic reformer" image in a bid for the White House.
But what about all that suicide talk? A New Jersey politics professor in the story puts it to bed: "If he were just a governor without national aspirations, wouldn't it make sense to talk about state-specific policies that are common in many state and contextualize it with the United States budget?" As much as we're concerned for Christie's mental health, it doesn't take an Oracle in Seacaucus (though there are certainly enough hallucinatory fumes) to look at his rising approval rating and ascending national profile and conclude that he might very well be a candidate in 2012.
Tagged
2012
Chris Christie
jersey
Politics
republicans
suicide watch
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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