Standing on the front steps of the Burlington County Republican headquarters in historic Mt. Holly on Saturday Christie Christie kicked off a day of barnstorming through the state he loves on the eve of the Republican primary in which he faces only token opposition.
The Governor told an enthusiastic crowd along High Street that the campaign of his Democrat opponent Barbara Buono is "all about the past while we're all about the future." He tied Buono to the failed policies of former Governor Jon Corzine and quipped "she'll tax anything that moves, or doesn't move," as the crowd chuckled and applauded loudly.
He clicked off figures backing up his claim that state spending has been reduced, state government made smaller and taxes have been cut. "Our budget this year will be smaller that Corzine's budget six years ago," Christie said. And he added that the state government payroll has been reduced by tens of thousands of employees. "Not only that," Christie added "but the payrolls of local and county government have been reduced." Christie said less government but more efficient government is better.
Christie praised State Senators Diane Allen and Dawn Marie Addiego, both of whom were in attendance. "Diane and Dawn can tell you better than I all about Barbara Buono. They've dealt with her in the legislature," Christie said. "They know how we had to clean up the mess that she and Crozine made."
Christie stopped to chat with us and said he remembered how we stood by him in the primary and general elections in 2009 when he faced more serious opposition and (at least for the 2009 primary) few people even knew his name. "I love the Dan Cirucci Blog," Christie said "and you know that."
The Governor was in an upbeat mood, explaining that "I've come back here to thank Burlington County because you've always stood by me. We won here in 2009 and we're gonna win even bigger here in 2013." Christie said he wanted to first visit those areas that came through big for him so he's targeting counties like Middlesex, Union, Ocean and his home county of Morris. But of course he's been all over the state in recent weeks and especially along the shore which has made a responding comeback after the devastation of Sandy.
Christie obviously loves campaigning (even in 90-degre weather) and took plenty of time to chat with ordinary New Jerseyans, pose for photos and sign autographs.
What a joy it was to see him again!
All photos copyright 2013 by Dan Cirucci.
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