Marist: Obama leads in 3-way race with Palin and Bloomberg

[Landslide Lyndon]

If Christie announces he is running, the nomination is his.

What better way to stop a half-term governor than recruiting someone with even less experience?

[Landslide Lyndon]

If Christie announces he is running, the nomination is his.

What better way to stop a half-term governor than recruiting someone with even less experience?

Being U.S. Attorney in New Jersey for eight years is clearly meaningless!

Just like being state senator in Illinois was.

[Landslide Lyndon]

If Christie announces he is running, the nomination is his.

What better way to stop a half-term governor than recruiting someone with even less experience?

Being U.S. Attorney in New Jersey for eight years is clearly meaningless!

Just like being state senator in Illinois was.

Uh...being U.S. Attorney in New Jersey is obviously more important than being a two term State Senator that abstained an unusual amount of the time.

Why?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Are you that unfamiliar with the responsibilities of a U.S. Attorney in one of the most corrupt states in the country and Christie's record as a prosecutor?

You mean he had executive experience?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Are you that unfamiliar with the responsibilities of a U.S. Attorney in one of the most corrupt states in the country and Christie's record as a prosecutor?

You mean he had executive experience?

It's not just executive experience; it's experience actually doing something. Like or dislike Christie, no one will tell you he was a do-nothing as the top prosecutor in one of the most corrupt states in the nation.

Legislators do something too you know.

And in an unrelated note, Christie's bully scthick might be working in New Jersey but I doubt that it will be very successful in DC.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Are you that unfamiliar with the responsibilities of a U.S. Attorney in one of the most corrupt states in the country and Christie's record as a prosecutor?

You mean he had executive experience?

It's not just executive experience; it's experience actually doing something. Like or dislike Christie, no one will tell you he was a do-nothing as the top prosecutor in one of the most corrupt states in the nation.

Legislators do something too you know.

Sure they do...when they aren't abstaining an unusual amount of the time. 

Obama has admitted he was bored as a State Senator.
 

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Already have him going to DC? Nice. 

People like his attitude. You see it as bullying; most people see it as a politician finally having a set to take on powerful interests and not backing down when the going gets tough. If he can pull in approval ratings over 50% as a conservative Republican in New Jersey, you shouldn't underestimate him. 

Are we really going to have a debate about Obama's "present" votes, again? Really?

You're the ones that already see him as the savior of the Republican party, not me.
And I'm skeptical about him "taking on powerful interests". I somehow doubt that teachers are what people think when they hear about powerful interests.
Not to mention the fact that he bribed many Democratic bosses in New Jersey by exempting their turf from his spending cuts in order to have them at his side while fighting the legislature. That's a very funny way for a reformer to battle "powerful interests".   

[Landslide Lyndon]

Are we really going to have a debate about Obama's "present" votes, again? Really?

No, no need for debate. They were obviously very bold leadership decisions.

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Teachers unions aren't powerful in New Jersey? Really? And he wasn't taking on teachers unions as U.S. Attorney.

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And you think he has a lot of Democratic friends in the legislature? I'm not familiar with these "bribes" but I can say that he doesn't have a lot of friends in the legislature.

No need to rehash the arguments about Obama's votes in the Illinois senate. Talk about beating a dead horse.

I know a thing or two about powerful unions and I detest them. But I find it hard to believe that they are more powerful than banks, big business, etc.
What was Christie's record on white collar crime? We are talking about a state that was Wall Street's backyard.

Christie might not have friends in the legislature but they don't seem to put up much of a fight against him. Read that article and you'll know why.

http://nymag.com/news/politics/69677/

And yet, since becoming governor, Christie has cultivated strong relationships with the three most prominent Democratic power brokers currently not in jail.
His political alliance with George Norcross, the legendary South Jersey Democratic boss who has expressed “the highest regard for Governor Christie’s aggressive leadership,” has made things difficult for Sweeney, who was installed as Senate president as the result of a Norcross power play and now must simultaneously try to satisfy both his political patron and the Democratic legislators who want him to be a strong voice of opposition. “Sweeney is always walking this fine line,” one prominent New Jersey Democrat says. “He’s probably going to have a stroke from all this.”

Meanwhile, Steve Adubato and Joe DiVincenzo, two Newark-area Democrats who run the most powerful political machine in North Jersey, have become increasingly vocal in their support of Christie. “He’s a personal friend, and he’s been very helpful to me and my county,” DiVincenzo, who in November was elected to his third term as Essex County executive, told me. “As far as governors I’ve worked with, Chris stands alone.” These words of praise for Christie from “Joe D,” as DiVincenzo is known by everyone, must weigh heavily on the mind of Sheila Oliver, who, in addition to being speaker of the General Assembly, works as an Essex County administrator. “How can Oliver counter Christie when Joe D is one of the closest people to Christie and she makes $83,000 a year working for Joe D?” gripes a New Jersey labor leader.

“Christie’s managed to completely co-opt our party leadership,” says one Democratic legislator. How he’s done so is a matter of much theorizing in New Jersey political circles. One explanation is fairly prosaic: He’s simply engaged in the sort of transactional politics that have always defined Trenton, restoring nearly $17 million of proposed cuts to Essex County (thereby allowing DiVincenzo to avoid layoffs) and pledging $28 million in annual funds to a new medical school in Camden (the pet project of Norcross).

[Landslide Lyndon]

What was Christie's record on white collar crime? We are talking about a state that was Wall Street's backyard.

His priority has been corruption just as a New York U.S. Attorney or Attorney General would focus more on white collar crime.

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They don't put up much of a fight against him because he has outsmarted them (see: Cory Booker). Yeah, some of these people have also become friendly with Christie since they weren't all that fond of Corzine. Take that up with Democratic leaders, not Christie.

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He restored funding in one of the most populated areas of the state and supports a new medical school in an area of the state known for its medical institutions. That doesn't suddenly make it directly connected to the bosses. Hell, anything the guy does in any area of the state could be traced to the political bosses. These points are nothing more than speculation.

Have you read the article? The Democratic leaders in the legislature want to fight Christie but they can't because he has cozied up with their bosses.
And for a man who tried to fight corruption and put these people in jail, he seems awfully friendly with them now. I guess that's what passes for a reformer these days.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I know you're not interested in objectively looking at this/only care about taking hack jabs/think you know more about the situation after reading an article in the New Yorker so it really isn't worth fighting about this.

Those aren't hack jabs, they are the truth. When I said the same thing about Obama trying to reform Wall Street with Larry Summers and Tim Geithner as his top advisors, you seemed to agree.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I know you're not interested in objectively looking at this/only care about taking hack jabs/think you know more about the situation after reading an article in the New Yorker so it really isn't worth fighting about this.

Those aren't hack jabs, they are the truth. When I said the same thing about Obama trying to reform Wall Street with Larry Summers and Tim Geithner as his top advisors, you seemed to agree.

You said he wasn't interested in reform because he supported funding that happened to be supported by Democratic bosses. Again, almost anything he supports in those areas of the state can be traced back to those bosses.

They were stretching to make Christie look corrupt and it was a really poor attempt, too.

It's not only the funding, it's the sudden warmth these bosses feel for Christie.
I understand that there was no love lost between them and Corzine but I know that you don't usually shower praise to the man that tried to put you in jail.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I know you're not interested in objectively looking at this/only care about taking hack jabs/think you know more about the situation after reading an article in the New Yorker so it really isn't worth fighting about this.

Those aren't hack jabs, they are the truth. When I said the same thing about Obama trying to reform Wall Street with Larry Summers and Tim Geithner as his top advisors, you seemed to agree.

You said he wasn't interested in reform because he supported funding that happened to be supported by Democratic bosses. Again, almost anything he supports in those areas of the state can be traced back to those bosses.

They were stretching to make Christie look corrupt and it was a really poor attempt, too.

It's not only the funding, it's the sudden warmth these bosses feel for Christie.

Again, it's not sudden and this is why I characterize your posts as hack jabs. I've explained this several times and you're ignoring it.
 

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Maybe they fear him? Kissing up to someone can go a long way in politics.  

1)So you're saying that they loved him before he was elected? When he was still a US attorney trying to nail them?  
I knew New Jersey politics are weird but that's a surprise.  

2)These guys don't seem to me like ones that would be impressed by Christie's antics.
And how do they simultaneously love and fear him? You can't have that argument both ways.

[Landslide Lyndon]

"Loved him" is a figure of speech, he isn't exactly Brad Pitt after all.
Replace it with "admired him" or "supported him" if it bugs you so much.