With an eye on the 2016 presidential race newly reelected New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – who is also the incoming head of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) – wasted no time making a bold and risky move in the Palmetto State.
Specifically, Christie told The New York Times he wants to help South Carolina “Republicans” reelect liberal U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Wait … “Republicans?” Obviously that’s not what Christie means. He’s referring, of course, to the vast center-left coalition of RINOs and Democrats Graham is assembling for the 2014 “GOP” primary (in which Democrats are free to vote).
“Backing a pro-amnesty, super-hawkish incumbent like Graham is his way of brand-building,” the website Hot Air notes. “(Christie) knows he’s not going to win tea partiers in 2016, especially with Paul and (maybe) Ted Cruz in the mix, so here’s his chance to impress centrists and the donor class by showing them he’s not afraid to do battle with the right, even if it means helping one of grassroots righties’ Most Wanted to another term in the Senate. And if things go badly wrong in SC and Graham is overwhelmed by conservatives in the primary, that’ll be a message to Christie that he needs to tack right in 2015 during the presidential primaries to make amends.”
Hmmmm …
That’s an interesting analysis …
Hot Air also predicts Christie will seek to hedge his Palmetto State bets by endorsing U.S. Sen. Tim Scott in his 2014 U.S. Senate race – assuming Scott draws opposition.
Really? How does that work, exactly?
Graham and Scott have been on the opposite side of every gut-check vote cast in the U.S. Senate this year. How exactly does someone endorse both of them and retain any credibility with voters?
We look forward to seeing how Christie answers that question …
44 comments
Christie is making a huge mistake campaigning for Lindsey. Huge.
Christie won in a Democratic State. He is making a calculation.
He is looking to pick up centered Republicans, swing Democrats, and Independents in 2016. Losing SC electoral votes (9) is just the cost of doing business in order to gain electoral votes in NY (29), IL (20), FL (29), MI (16), OH (18), PA (20), TX (38), & CA (55).
In November 2016, it is all about the Electoral College.
Doug has to be talking about how it may hurt him in the primary, not the general election. No matter how moderate of a Republican Christie may be, he’s not gong to lose SC in the general election because SC won’t vote for a Democratic Presidential candidate. At the same time CA, IL and NY won’t vote for a Republican in 2016, even if it is a moderate one like Christie. When put head-to-head with Hillary Clinton, Christie doesn’t even win his home state of New Jersey.
Spot on.
I can understand what it is in this for Christie, but what is in it for Graham? This will only inflame the tea nuts even more. I guess Graham will do more saber rattling on abortion to counter-balance this move.
Don’t know about CA. They did elect GOP Governor Arnold because they like celebrities out there. And Christie is something of a celebrity.
Arnold (I never saw a piece of anti-gun legislation that I would not sign) Schwarzenegger was another POS RINO.
Waffer thin mint you fat piece of shit? It’s just a waffer thin mint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJZPzQESq_0
Not that I needed another reason to vote against Graham.
I might not happen, but I would love to see him kick some Tea-nut ass in this state. Past time to send those guys packing, so this state can have a chance to become something more than a national joke.
Tea-nuts are imploding across the country. Alabama’s House primary last night was just a prequel to the future of Tea party candidates getting knocked off by Moderate republicans.
Normally I’d say “Fuck yeah!” but a victory for Graham prevents me from saying it.
So what makes SC a ‘national joke’ and what does Christie kicking “tea nut” ass do to fix it?
Fat Bastard.
Watch those wine references, TBG. Oh, wait! You must be Austin Powers!
Fat Bastard.
Lard,Almighty!
His loyalty to his state, and lack of disrespect for help got him in hot water with the tea party. They loathe him – not because he’s a fat pig, but because he’s not crazy enough.
The funny part is that Christie has done a lot of what the Tea Party does like, but the fact that he praised Obama for the disaster relief stuff turned a helluva lot of them against him. This notion that a “slight impurity” in a candidate makes them unacceptable is really going to drive those folks bonkers.
He’s also a big fan of the Muzzies and is NOT what I would call “Pro-2A”.
“How exactly does someone endorse both of them and retain any credibility with voters?”
Easy. Christie talks shit and carries a small stick. Sandlappers love to talk shit but have no sticks. He counts on it.
Scott’s schtick is his color which gives the Pubs a cheap rack to hang their hats on. He counts on it, too. How you gonna vote against a Black, Tea Party conservative if your conscience is active?
Everybody feels better and sleeps well at night; at peace with both the devil and God, not necessarily in that order.
You myopic teabagger purists need to understand that Graham, Christie, et al. are your last best chance to remain relevant to this democracy. If the best the GOP can do in ’16 is trot out another of their wackos, “President Clinton” is a term you’ll be hearing alot of – again.
No no no, the rally cry every time they lose is that “We simply weren’t conservative enough!” Tell that to Cuccinelli.
There’s a reason why the Republican party hasn’t run an actual conservative for President, because even Republican primary voters don’t want an actual conservative for President. Bush? McCain? Romney? Safe to say Bush slashed revenues while raising spending and created massive deficits, McCain constantly works with Democrats for very non-conservative causes, and Romney invented the prototype for Obamacare.
This retarded quest for ideological purity in a candidate would alienate the vast number of moderate Republican voters and swing voters.
Safe to say Bush slashed revenues while raising spending and created massive deficits,…
Please.
When it comes to lowered revenue and raised deficits, “W” doesn’t hold a candle to Obama. Yeah, TBG knows that lowered revenues are partly a function of the bad economy.
If it takes voting for Graham to remain relevant…
…TBG CHOOSES IRRELEVANCY!!!!
*shakes fist*
*slowly fades away*
That was brilliant, TBG.
I will vote for him…the nations had enough of the Teabaggers! !!!
Where the fuck do you think the center is if you think Graham is a leftist?
The Teanuts think they are the center.
What is the benefit of being “center”?
Is it the notion that more people like your viewpoint?
Yes. Look up bell curve.
The reality-based community calls it “sanity”
One liberal RINO piece of shit helping another.
Imagine that…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77rtyQf6Hwk
Scott is just a step -and -fetch for the Koch brothers, doing the bidding of his betters
Why do you think Dem crossover voters would vote for Graham and not Bright, the looniest of the bunch? I always thought crossovers wanted to sabatoge the frontrunner.
Graham is a leaner but Bright is an idiot and you never know what he is going to do. Graham is a safe bet. I can’t imagine anyone voting for Bright – except Nikki Haley
Christie is a moderate, long overdue, and will be attractive to libruls like me. I simply like him, his style, his work ethic, and the way he reaches across the table for consensus building. His wife’s name is Mary Pat, for pete’s sake !
Graham is bipolar … Scott is just in politics to satisfy his narcissist hunger and thirst for the almighty green.
It would be better to support moderate conservatives that can actually win than support far right candidates that have no appeal to independent voters and therefore lose in the general election. Your party “purity”, RINO bullshit are only doing one thing – getting democrats elected to national offices. There have been three election cycles of evidence to support this and if you don’t lighten up a little bit there won’t be a republican party left.
Vitellkius, who ruled for 8 months in 69 AD often dined 4 times a day, a feat made possible by the use of emetics. On a serving dish so big that he called it “the shield of city-guarding Minerva,” he dedicated to Minerva a concoction of parrot wrasse livers, pheasant and peacock brains, flamingo tongues and lamprey roe, brought by naval vessels from regions as far apart as Parthia and the Straits of Gibraltar.
Clodius Albinus 196-197 AD, was said to be able to consume inordinate quantities of fruit at a sitting: five hundred dried figs, one hundred peaches, ten melons, and twenty pounds of grapes, as well as one hundred small birds and four hundred oysters.
…and before each one of them died from explosion, a French waiter showed up and offered them a “tiny mint wafer..”
A+
Now, for you next assignment, please give three historical references to persons who betrayed their fellow citizens by pretending to be one thing while actually being another.
Bachmann, Palin, and Wilson.
I was thinking more of Johnson, Obama, and Graham. I do not know know Bachmann and Palin and cannot argue with you about them. I do know both Joe and Alan and find them to be honest people, although Alan is more cautious in his words. I know most people on this board don’t like either one, but I know them, and I think differently about them.
2 out of 3 is a passing grade. Wilson never said he wasn’t an asshole.