The Chris Christie effect

By Tom Quiner

When Hillary Clinton is sworn in as the next president of the United States, the Chris Christie effect will long be talked about.

I refer to last Saturday’s debate.

Governor Christie cut Marco Rubio off at the knees in one of the most consequential debate moments in a long time.

He accused the good senator of being a one-dimensional, pre-programmed candidate not ready for the oval office, and Rubio played his part by being … one-dimensional.

In a brilliant, bullying, Trumpian maneuver, Christie talked over Rubio, wagging his finger at the Senator, saying “see, he’s doing it again” as Rubio repeated the same talking a second and a third time.

Rubio had momentum coming out of Iowa. He had a chance to narrow the gap on Trump in New Hampshire. In an instant, the momentum was lost.

Rubio plummeted to fifth in New Hampshire, throwing cold water on his chances to become president.

It’s interesting that Christie chose not to attack the front runner, Donald Trump, a man who loses in head-to-head match ups with Democrats, but rather Rubio, the man who wins them.

Christie did more than derail Rubio’s candidacy, he derailed his own. People don’t generally like a bully. Christie announced today that he is suspending his campaign.

And he did even more than derail two candidacies, he legitimized human abortion in the eyes of liberals and people who are wishy-washy on life issues. He characterized human abortion as an act of “self-defense” for women who have been raped.

Christie is a smart man. He’s a shrewd litigator. And he’s a man with East Coast chutzpah. How could human abortion possibly be an act of self-defense when it’s the baby in the women being dismembered, not the rapist?

He promotes an act of gruesome violence as the antidote for an act of unspeakable violation, dehumanizing the human person in the womb who is totally innocent of any wrong-doing.

Hillary Clinton and her Planned Parenthood minions were certainly making mental notes for the Fall campaign.

Regarding Rubio, who knows, perhaps Christie did him a favor. If he survives this set-back, he’ll be ready for anything.

If he doesn’t, the Republicans are left with a couple of front runners in Trump and Cruz who don’t appeal to a broad enough spectrum of voters to win a general election.

The Chris Christie effect.

 

 

 

13 Comments

  1. Oliver on February 10, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    Haven’t seen the debate yet, but I might have a chance tonight. I am kinda irked that Chris Christie did so much damage to Marco Rubio.

    As you so elequently pointed out, I think Chris Christie’s sharp tongue would be better directed at Donald Trump or someone who actually deserves this kind of “special attention.”

    Also, I think that at least once every debate Chris Christie has done his whole “Hillary Clinton won’t get within ten/one/any number mile(s) of the White House if you send me to the primary.”

    People who live on glass houses shouldn’t throw stones… Or take their pants off, for that matter.

    By the way, I thought I heard that the reports of Chris Christie’s campaign suspension were false.



    • quinersdiner on February 11, 2016 at 7:26 am

      I’ll check the news today to see what’s up on his campaign.



      • Shawn Pavlik on February 11, 2016 at 11:14 pm

        I did a google search. The NY Times, NBC, and CNN are all reporting that he is done. Good riddance.



        • quinersdiner on February 12, 2016 at 9:31 am

          Yes, Trump stole the bully market niche from him.



      • Nathan on February 12, 2016 at 12:46 pm

        Christie would have taken votes away from Trump. So does Kasich.



  2. Nathan on February 11, 2016 at 9:59 am

    To be fair, Cruz won in Iowa after criticizing ethanol subsidies. He also got third place in New Hampshire after spending less than $600,000 dollars in advertising (Jeb, by contrast, was a close 4th spending 35 Million dollars). The south should be even better for the senator from Texas.



    • quinersdiner on February 11, 2016 at 10:01 am

      Good points!



  3. oarubio on February 11, 2016 at 10:36 am

    Tom, I had the same thoughts during that fateful debate. In an effort to tackle a reachable target (Marco), he stopped a touchdown, but injured Marco — and to make it worse, it didn’t help Christie, only the Democrats as you said. Assuming the possible worse does come to pass in November, we’ll have to shift our focus to encouraging the faithful in the fight against hedonism, legalized murder and the imbedded chip/ mark of the beast to come some day. It’s sad, because it would have been so preventable/



    • quinersdiner on February 11, 2016 at 10:57 am

      I have no clue what could happen the rest of this year. Clinton is such a ridiculously flawed candidate, that we don’t even know if she’ll be in jail by November. I really don’t think this country would elect Bernie. Evidently, Michael Bloomburg would most likely run as a 3rd party candidate if the two choices where Bernie and Donald. Bloomburg would be a good fiscal conservative but liberal on social policy.



  4. Tom Maly on February 11, 2016 at 1:09 pm

    Difficult for me not to call Chris Christie names! What Christie did to Rubio was lower than whale poop at the bottom of the ocean. Rubio had (?) a genuine chance but now must dig out of a deep ditch thanks to Christie ;o( Rubio may still make a go of it!



    • quinersdiner on February 11, 2016 at 1:13 pm

      Rubio isn’t through … but his odds have plunged. There’s another debate Saturday night. He needs a strong performance, which I think he will have, to regain the momentum.



  5. bluebird of bitterness on February 13, 2016 at 8:55 pm

    I’m so disappointed in Chris Christie. He was never my first choice, but I did like him… until he showed his true personality.



    • quinersdiner on February 13, 2016 at 9:00 pm

      I totally agree. I liked him, but he really bugged me in his last debate.