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Republicans adore Chris Christie -- on YouTube and off
By Jennifer Rubin
Ezra Klein writes that -- oh my! -- Gov. Chris Christie has aides who film and circulate his lively interactions with the media and town hall audiences. Ezra contends that this somehow diminishes his chances in 2012.
I don't know any Republicans (and Ezra doesn't cite or quote any) who are naïve enough to be aghast or even surprised by the revelation, which is now a month old, that Christie's staff is eager to make these vignettes available. Frankly, conservative activists and pundits already know that Christie has a very good staff that actively promotes its boss. And there's reason to believe that these videos contribute to Christie's popularity.
Christie's appearance on 60 Minutes last night got quite a lot of attention in conservative circles, all of it positive from what I have seen. Peter Wehner wrote about Christie's discussion of states' fiscal problems and followed up with an e-mail to me: "Christie is once again very strong."
Christie is one of the select group of politicians who impresses activists -- he won a Tea Party straw poll in October -- and wonks. Yuval Levin, editor of the high-brow National Affairs magazine and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center gave me his take:
I think Christie has done a better job than any state politician in our time of translating the fiscal crisis of the states -- the crisis of unfunded public employee benefit liabilities combined with reckless discretionary spending -- into the language of moral responsibility, and therefore of making the nature of that crisis accessible to voters. He is also one of the very few governors in our time who has proposed going after those problems directly -- by taking on the unions and addressing long-term liabilities, as well as cutting spending -- despite the political cost. That combination makes him simply the most important governor in the nation today. If he can succeed, the other 49 states (and especially the other 5 or 6 states that together with NJ are in the worst trouble) have a model to learn from and a chance to avert disaster.
This is probably why Christie and other governors were invited to the Hill by soon-to-be House Speaker John Boehner. Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel talked to me why Christie has become something of a rock star: "Governor Christie is making the kind of effective, conservative reforms the American people want - he's taking on special interests and cutting wasteful government spending."
It is far from clear that Christie is going to run for president. But the best way to gauge whose fortunes are rising and falling in the 2012 Republican primary race is to talk to those who will be voting in it and trying to influence its outcome. And so far, I've yet to find any anti-Christie sentiments. Whether you talk to Tea Partyers, lawmakers, policy wonks or political consultants, it is hard to find anyone who enjoys as much respect and affection as Christie. In part, that is because he combines showmanship with policy chops.
That may change if and when he gets into the race, but, for now, Christie's YouTube appearances are arguably the single most effective effort put forth by any potential 2012 contender in establishing a public persona and raising name identification
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ri...ris_christ.html
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