On Leadership and Economics, Christie Fails

New Jersey Governor and Presidential candidate Chris Christie had a good night in New Hampshire.

He took down Marco Rubio, who has little record to run on, besides rhetorical flair, relative youth, and the Gang of Eight Bill which he runs from, but refuses to repudiate. Christie treated his fellow competitor/Governor John Kasich with respect, yet kept referring to the attacking points against him as “old and dated”. He helped fight the heroin epidemic by treating the plague as a health problem rather than a moral issue. He is pro-life at every stage of life. I saw a brief return of the old Christie, the one who told off whiny civil servants in town halls, who cancelled expensive projects, not afraid to punch the teachers’ unions in the face.

Unfortunately, there is still too much of the New “blue” Christie, who likes to be liked, who follows polls instead of changing them. I saw more of this “New Christie” on Fox News Sunday, as he excused his state’s ongoing anemic job growth. After California, New Jersey remains the worst state for business development. Christie continues to blame the Democratic legislature in Trenton because they won’t do what he wants. Yet for the past six years, Christie has done nothing to improve his party’s legislature membership or expanding their base of influence. Furthermore, other Republican governors in blue states—like Larry Hogan of Maryland—have accomplished more despite Democratic majorities.

Real leaders are team players. They don’t make excuses. Christie fails.