Inside the Christie bubble: Jersey peers take the denials with a pound of salt

Chris Christie, the Justin Bieber of Political Media
This might be an obvious point about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, but I haven't seen anyone make it yet. The man's political operation is extraordinary. The legend of Christie as blunt-talking master of truth and invective has been built up in large part by his staff's assiduous use of Video. The GovChristie YouTube account is constantly uploading footage of Christie giving it to questioners and appearing on TV shows. Here's the latest example -- an upload of an emotional, largely policy-free...

Environmental group sticking with Christie
The New Jersey Environmental Federation, which had never endorsed a state-wide Republican Candidate before it backed Chris Christie, isn't fretting about the NJ Gov's recent comments on Global Warming. David Pringle, spokesman for the New Jersey Environmental Federation.... dismissed the Governor's remark as "off the cuff." Pringle said Christie has opposed coal-fired Power Plants and Offshore Oil Drilling since taking office in January. He said those are the types of policy choices needed to ...

Gallup: Palins unfavorable rating hits new high of 52%
To recycle an old joke much beloved by longtime HA readers: You know who this Poll benefits? Mitt Romney. More than half of Americans, 52%, now view Sarah Palin unfavorably, the highest percentage holding a negative opinion of the former Alaska Governor in Gallup polling since Sen. John McCain tapped her as the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. Her 40% favorable rating ties her lowest favorable score, recorded just over a year ago… Palin’s image has consistently tilted neg...

AP-GfK Poll: Palin is best-known, and most divisive, of GOP's 2012 presidential contenders
FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2010 file photo, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks to supporters at a Republican National Committee rally in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File) (AP) WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin is the most polarizing of the potential 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates, while impressions of Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney lean more positive, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll. As for the rest — Pawlenty, Barbour, Thune, Daniels — most Americans say,...

Christie, Barbour bringing unsexy back
I think I know why New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is so popular. Sure, he is benefiting from the Tea Party-driven, anti-government Populist wave (and indeed, his election in November of 2009 represented the electoral vanguard of that movement), and many would argue that he has thus far proven an effective executive. But setting aside his politics and his competence, there is another source for the deep affection he seems to engender in voters, and that is this: He’s a little tubby. I s...

Video: Tingles Cracks a Chris Christie is Fat Joke
Keep it classy, Tingles.. O’Donnell: He (Moynihan) would be horrified by what the Governor of New Jersey, for example, just decided on building another tunnel. No vision in that decision at all. The notion that we have to pay for these things out of current receipts we don’t do that with anything else we build in the Private Sector. Everything built in the Private Sector is mortgaged, it is understood it is going to take dedicates to pay for building. We could go on and on about th...

Gallup: Sarah Palins Unfavorable Rating Hits New High At 52%
PRINCETON, NJ — More than half of Americans, 52%, now view Sarah Palin unfavorably, the highest percentage holding a negative opinion of the former Alaska Governor in Gallup polling since Sen. John McCain tapped her as the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. Her 40% favorable rating ties her lowest favorable score, recorded just over a year ago. The latest results come from a Nov. 4-7 Gallup Poll, conducted shortly after the Midterm Elections delivered some big wins as well as losse...

At 52%, Palin's Unfavorable Score Hits a New High
PRINCETON, NJ -- More than half of Americans, 52%, now view Sarah Palin unfavorably, the highest percentage holding a negative Opinion of the former Alaska Governor in Gallup polling since Sen. John McCain tapped her as the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. Her 40% favorable rating ties her lowest favorable score, recorded just over a year ago. The latest results come from a Nov. 4-7 Gallup Poll, conducted shortly after the Midterm Elections delivered some big wins as well as losses for...

Christie's wife didn't dig tunnel
New Jersey's First Lady helped kill the Hudson River Rail tunnel, according to her hubby. Gov. Chris Christie says wife Mary Pat was an outspoken opponent of the Controversial project, pointing out that its planned Manhattan terminal under Herald Square posed a hassle for busy commuters. "The lobbying to me on this one was from [the First Lady]," said Christie, whose wife commuted from the Jersey suburbs to New York City for nearly two decades as a Cantor Fitzgerald bond trader. "She's, lik...

About War Room
Slate's Dave Weigel, taking note of the latest Chris Christie Video to hit YouTube, is puzzled that no other aspiring national GOP star is exploiting the Viral (and free) nature of online Video the way the New Jersey Governor is: And that's where Christie's fame has come from! He makes News less for his specific accomplishments, more for Viral Videos of himself taking names, which are rebroadcast on conservative sites, Talk Radio, and Cable News. [Tim] Pawlenty's communications team tried, ...

Jersey Teacher Threatens To Leave State If Salary Is Cut, Let Me Help You Pack Says Gov. Christie
Earlier in the day Christie discussed the Parsippany Board and Seitz at a Town hall Meeting in Toms River. “Let me tell you about the new poster boy for all that’s wrong with the Public School system that is being dictated by greed,” the Governor told the audience. “This contract is the definition of greed and arrogance. I’m going to be speaking out loudly and clearly every day I can about Lee Seitz. If Lee Seitz wants to try to put his greed and his arrogance ahead...

Wrigley: US Atty travel probe didn't include me
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Former North Dakota U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley said he was never questioned during a Justice Department Probe that recently spotlighted allegedly profligate travel spending by five of his former colleagues, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Former North Dakota U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley said he was never questioned during a Justice Department Probe that recently spotlighted allegedly profligate travel spending by five of his former...

Amtrak, New Jersey end talks over alternate tunnel
Philadelphia (Reuters) - The U.S. passenger Rail network Amtrak has ended talks about building a new Commuter Rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey and has no plans to restart them, Amtrak said on Friday. The breakdown appears to put an end to efforts to revive some form of the Rail tunnel project, once projected to be the largest U.S. infrastructure project and a potential source of economic stimulus. Amtrak had been in talks with New Jersey's Public transit agency about a possible alter...

Amtrak, New Jersey end talks over alternate tunnel
By Jon Hurdle Philadelphia | Fri Nov 12, 2010 12:46pm EST Philadelphia (Reuters) - The U.S. passenger Rail network Amtrak has ended talks about building a new Commuter Rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey and has no plans to restart them, Amtrak said on Friday. The breakdown appears to put an end to efforts to revive some form of the Rail tunnel project, once projected to be the largest U.S. infrastructure project and a potential source of economic stimulus. Amtrak had been in talks wi...

Former N.D. U.S. Attorney Not a Big Spender
The former U.S. Attorney in North Dakota told the Associated Press Thursday that he is not one of the five former prosecutors criticized in a Justice Department Inspector General’s report for excessive travel spending. Drew Wrigley served as U.S. Attorney from 2001 until August 2009 and is set to be sworn in as the state’s Lieutenant Governor next month. “I traveled when I needed to travel,” Wrigley told the AP. “I never wanted to be looking for extra days to travel...

NJ Gov. Chris Christie Tops Possible 2012 GOP Presidential Field Zogby
A new Zogby interactive Poll shows New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie leads the field of possible GOP Candidates for President in 2012. Christie has a slight lead on Mitt Romney among hypothetical Candidates: 19% Chris Christie 17% Mitt Romney 14% Sarah Palin 6% Jeb Bush 4% Tim Pawlenty 3% Mitch Daniels 3% Haley Barbour It’s hard to take much from these kinds of polls, when the field is not even determined, and we are so far out from actual primaries or caucuses. But one pattern is emerging ...

Better News For Palin
PPP’s newest batch of 2012 Republican Primary polls conducted right before last week’s Election finds Mitt Romney ahead in the critical early state of Florida, Tim Pawlenty surprisingly weak in his home state of Minnesota, and Sarah Palin posting leads in Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Maine. All of her leads are relatively slim, but the fact that she’s ahead of Huckabee in Texas and West Virginia is notable, and her leads in Maine (by 23 percent to Romney’s 18 perc...

Panel: NJ State Workers Get Black Friday Off
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Public Employment Relations Commission says State workers would be ‘irreparably harmed” if they don’t get the day after Thanksgiving off. The panel ruled against Gov. Chris Christie, who said workers would have to use a Vacation day to stay home on Black Friday. They would get Lincoln’s Birthday off instead. Former Gov. Jon Corzine struck a deal in 2009 that allowed Public Employee Unions to trade the day after Thanksgiving fo...

Christie Skeptical of Global Warming
Governor Chris Christie, who recently killed the nation’s largest transit project,  the ARC Tunnel, says “more science” is needed to convince him that humans cause Global Warming.  The Huffington Post has the full transcript of his remarks, and an update from Christie’s press office.  Christie has become a darling of  Republicans this fall, winning the Tea Party Straw Poll for President, though he recently told “Meet the Press, there is “absolutelyR...

Did the tea party cost Republicans the Senate?
Tea Party backed Senate Candidates in several states significantly underperformed more establishment Republican Candidates running on the same ballot last Tuesday, data that provides further evidence that the Tea Party movement may have cost the GOP seats. Ever since Republicans fell short of a Senate majority last week, tensions have been simmering beneath the surface about Tea Party Candidates who upset the establishment in the primary and then fell short in the General Election - Candidates...

McDonnell vs. Christie
Jill Lawrence has an interesting look at both Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie, who are forever linked because they were elected the same day and marked the beginning of a wave that would eventually sweep the GOP into power. But one thing's changed. Back in 2009, it was McDonnell stirring all the Presidential buzz; now it's Christie, and as an example of who's got the most cache right now, Lawrence notes that Christie raised nearly $9 million for Republican Candidates this year, while McDonnel...

Chris Christie is no Fred Thompson
He claims he has no interest in a presidential run in 2012 but NJ Gov. Chris Christie toured the country this fall and raised nearly $9 million for Republican Candidates. He's been doing the Sunday bobblehead circuit. He's a favorite of the Far Right Conservatives for his "in yer face" style of political confrontation and he's attacking all their favorite targets like teacher's unions and "Big Government" Spending. Sure smells like testing the waters to me. He also vehemently claims his perso...

McDonnell vs. Christie
Jill Lawrence has an interesting look at both Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie, who are forever linked because they were elected the same day and marked the beginning of a wave that would eventually sweep the GOP into power. But one thing's changed. Back in 2009, it was McDonnell stirring all the Presidential buzz; now it's Christie, and as an example of who's got the most cache right now, Lawrence notes that Christie raised nearly $9 million for Republican Candidates this year, while McDonnel...

Sarah Palin, president of West Virginia
From Public Policy Polling: 56% of West Virginians say they will vote for the Republican over Obama in 2 years — 34% are for Obama. That’s a reversal of the 59% Democrat/34% Republican registration in the state. Among Republican Candidates the preferences are: Sarah Palin 25% Mike Huckabee 22% Mitt Romney 15% Newt Gingrich 15% Everyone else is under 2% Count me in the 23% who said someone other than those 4 or is Undecided. By the way, 37% of Democrats say they will vote for the Re...

First 2012 Republican debate to be held at Reagan Library in spring of 2011
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan announced Thursday that the First debate of the 2012 Republican Primary contest will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., in the spring of 2011. Reagan, 89, did not give an exact date for the debate, which will be co-hosted by Politico and NBC News. The Reagan Presidential Library was also the scene of the First Republican debate of the 2008 cycle, which took place on May 3, 2007. Politico and NBC News hosted that...