What the hell do you expect me to say, folks? Huh?
I've been writing about Chris Christie for nearly 15 years now. From the first moment I met him at a small gathering at Medford NJ's town square, I knew I was meeting someone who was utterly distinct -- set apart from every other politician I've ever met, and I've met hundreds of 'em. Here was this guy from mostly urban North Jersey in a cozy, precious South Jersey small town and he was as comfortable as he would be on a Newark front stoop.
Chris Christie is like that. He can go from crass to class in a nanosecond. Maybe it's because he's a real people person and, as Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan recently noted, Christie is simply "politically gifted." Here's more from Noonan:
In 2013, the year he won re-election by 22 points, I spent a day with him on the trail and wrote of what I saw—the presidential-sized crowds, the affection and something else: the lost joy of politics. His pleasure in the game and the meaning of the game, his remembering that on some level it is a game, to be won or lost to cheers or boos. What a figure.
"The lost joy of politics!" I gotta admit it, that phrase tugged at my heart. I grew up seeing the street corner people-to-people joy of politics first hand. And Chris Christie is still the best retail politician in America today. Face-to-face, eye-to-eye and handshake-to-handshake, nobody tops Christie.
Okay, so maybe in the digital age of artificial intelligence that's not important anymore. But, here's the thing: Christie's talents are broad and transcending. He can (and does!) move effortlessly from a shopping mall to a TV studio, from a debate stage to a corner bar, from social media to an ice cream social. And, believe me, I've seen him do it.
On top of all this Christie is bright, inquisitive, practical, adaptable and, above all authentic. Politically, it's not always easy to label Christie precisely because he's inimitable -- he's non-dogmatic, non-formulaic and non-stereotypical.
Yes, he loves the spotlight, he craves attention and he adores being center stage. But I've also seen him in quiet, more thoughtful moments when he's willingly attended to the concerns and trials of others. As Noonan has noted Christie "got the state through the true disaster of superstorm Sandy" because "he knows what to do with power. He isn’t secretly frightened of it, as many politicians are."
But Christie's road ahead will not be easy. We're more cynical, more brittle, more hardened than we were when Christie first ran for governor here in New Jersey in 2009. And, worst of all, we're way more divided. Our nation is in serious trouble. As Christie pointed out, America has gotten smaller. We're absorbed more and more by inconsequential stuff and, sadly, we're more petty. It's like we're gobbling one another up with a million tiny, trivial bites. And be sure of this -- our enemies take delight in it!
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