Governor Christie Announces for President: So What?

Governor Christie has announced his intentions to run for President in 2016.

Disaffected conservatives wanted him to reconsider his shy reserve on running for President in 2012 instead of Romney, the weakest front-runner in Modern Republican history.  Right then, the former US Attorney would have been an able and worthy contender, with enough self-awareness to recognize that he was not ready for the White House. George Washington, our first elected President, announced the same reserve at his first inaugural address before a captivated audience.

Christie in a 2015 Town Hall
(Source: Michael Vadon)

Then Christie fell captive to the media, more interested in buffing his profile than improving the prosperity and prestige of the Garden State. Today, Christie is now captured by the dull after-glow of a four-year media frenzy.  The non-scandal Bridge-gate controversy demonstrated not only Christie’s innocence, but the inconsequence of the marginalized media which had propped him up then dropped him without thinking twice about it.

Christie once declared “Wait till I’m really pissed”, pushed school choice, halted expensive projects and cuts taxes, then berated President Obama with  “What they hell are we paying you for?”. Today, Christie is a big compromiser, which rarely translates into a great leader. From missed opportunities for strong, conservative judicial appointments, to his battered pension meeting resistance from labor unions and state courts, to his failure to build his party or his national colleagues, Christie was all style, no substance. No longer leading, Christie follows polls, and they are not in his favor, nor ever will, and why should they?