Christie refuses to campaign for cuccinelli biography

Every week, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich talks with contributor Eric Benson about the biggest stories in politics and culture. This week: Christie’s 2016 prospects, Rand Paul’s Jonah Lehrer problem, McAuliffe’s underwhelming victory, and De Blasio’s firstchallenges.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie won a landslide reelection yesterday, significantly outperforming the national Republican Party among black, Hispanic, and female voters. Christie has been viewed as too moderate to win a Republican presidential primary, but he’s popular, pragmatic, and has lots of momentum. Is he the 2016 GOPfront-runner?

There is no front-runner for 2016. But the excessive valuation given by the GOP Establishment to Christie’s New Jersey landslide (against an underfinanced and pallid Democratic sacrificial lamb who was no Cory Booker) is a fascinating window into the power of denial. That Establishment is desperate to believe that the tea party is dying, that the radicals in the House cannot pull another stunt like a government shutdown, and that a restoration of centrist Republicanism is at hand. And so if you tune in to the unofficial headquarters of the Christie ’16 campaign, Morning Joe at MSNBC, Christie is not only the front-runner, he’s his party’s savior, and is within a step of two of measuring the drapes for the White House. Christie is also the great white hope of Wall Street barons, of the foreign-policy neocons, and of mainstream conservative pundits. How many of the latter have written columns recently about “what the right can learn from Chris Christie”? I lost count after Peggy Noonan, Ramesh Ponnuru, and Jennifer Rubin. The point seems to be that a gregarious Republican presidential candidate can win over blue America by putting a happy face on conservative ideology and showing up to help poor people when a natur

TRENTON — On Election Night, a smiling Gov. Chris Christie walked on stage to the song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," and thanked New Jersey "for making me the luckiest guy in the world."

Eleven weeks later, two scandals have him on the ropes.

Several recent polls show the governor’s popularity sinking, and on Tuesday, one high-profile Republican said Christie should resign as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

"He does not serve the goals of the organization by staying as chairman," said Ken Cuccinelli, who lost last year’s race for governor of Virginia, on CNN’s "Crossfire." "And that doesn’t mean any of the charges — political or otherwise — are substantive or not. It doesn’t matter. Perception is reality."

Christie took over in November as chairman of the RGA, an organization that helps raise money for Republican candidates for governor.

Mike DuHaime, Christie’s political strategist, fired back Wednesday, saying Cuccinelli last year asked Christie to campaign for him while they were thick in the nation’s only two governor’s races. Scheduling conflicts, however, kept Christie close to home, DuHaime said.

"This is disappointing, given the RGA was by far the largest single donor to his losing campaign, giving more than $8 million — a significant portion of which was raised by Gov. Christie," DuHaime said.

Christie’s office is mired in two controversies. In one, state lawmakers are investigating whether his administration orchestrated the closure of local-access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee last September, causing days of heavy traffic. Democrats have accused the administration of ordering the closures as political payback because the borough’s Democratic mayor declined to endorse the governor for re-election. Emails linked a top Christie aide to the closures, but the gov

THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL
November 5, 2013
Guest: Hunter Walker, John Halman


LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: It is election night in America, or
much of America, anyway.

In New Jersey, Chris Christie re-elected to a second term as governor.
We are awaiting a victory speech from Governor Christie, likely within this
hour.

In Virginia, NBC News project that Democratic Terry McAuliffe has
pulled off a narrow victory in the governor`s race. He defeated Republican
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. With 96 percent of the vote in, McAuliffe
has 47 percent, Ken Cuccinelli has 46 percent, and libertarian candidate
Robert Sarvis has 7 percent.

NBC News also projects that Democrat Ralph Northam is winner of the
lieutenant-governor race.

NBC News political director, Chuck Todd, is at McAuliffe election
headquarters in Tyson`s Corner, Virginia.

Chuck, how did this race find its way to a Terry McAuliffe victory and
rather narrow one?

CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, a rather narrow one.
I think we can be reminded that Virginia is Virginia. It`s a swing state
for a reason. As Virginia goes, so goes the nation. It`s been that way
for the last decade.

When you look at sort of the last two weeks, you can on one hand, look
at the result tonight. And say, you know what, the minute, Ken Cuccinelli
was nominated, he was going to have problems in northern Virginia, problems
in suburban counties.

I can tell you, I`m going to give you two results tonight, I know
Steve Schmidt will love this. Two results tonight for 2009, and Bob
McDonnell`s Republican history in Virginia, versus Terry McAuliffe`s
Democratic victory here.

And Henrico County, Richmond down there, a suburban county, McDonnell
won the county, 56-44. McAuliffe is going to win it 52-39. Sarvis vote
there.

Fairfax County, McDonnell actually won Fairfax County in 2009