RCP
Chris Christie: No, the tea party doesn’t have too much influence in the GOP
Gov. Christie: No, I don’t. I think they’ve had influence. I think everybody who comes to the table in the Republican Party should have a voice. Everybody should have a voice. And I don’t think they’ve had too much influence–
O’Donnell: You don’t think that’s why the House Republicans have not been able to get to the fiscal cliff deal?
Christie: Listen, I think there’s so many reasons why they couldn’t — and a lot of them are personal. And I talked about this in my press conference. I think they get into these toxic competitions with each other. And these internal palace intrigue things that happen.
Blowback
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Sadly, he’s right. As far as the end result is concerned, they haven’t had much influence. If the GOP leadership showed 1/10 of the animosity toward Obama that they do toward the Tea Party, imagine how much more energized the conservative base would be.
Doughboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:03 PM
Well, KrispyKreme, we don’t want influence – we want control. And we’re well on our way to getting it.
platypus on January 9, 2013 at 2:03 PM
I think you mis-typed. The conservative base is energized. You can tell by the way the Weeper’s head keeps looking back over his shoulder.
platypus on January 9, 2013 at 2:05 PM
Chris Christie is quickly becoming a huge joke.
blatantblue on January 9, 2013 at 2:09 PM
“Hey, thanks for saving our sorry hides in 2010. Now please lie down under this bus.” – The GOP
RadClown on January 9, 2013 at 2:09 PM
“Crist Christie”?
thurman on January 9, 2013 at 2:10 PM
And Obama’s laughing as he runs in touchdown after touchdown.
Yeah. Fracturing the opposition to President Downgrade is working just fine.
Good Lt on January 9, 2013 at 2:10 PM
Are they? P-ssed off, definitely. Demoralized, for sure. But energized, I’m not so certain. I have a bad feeling that if the GOP doesn’t start to publicly fight back against this President, the Democrat Party at large, and their conspirators in the media, 2014 is not going to be the typical dominant midterm election the opposition party typically sees during an incumbent’s 2nd term.
Doughboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:11 PM
You clearly missed the memo about stomping your feet and taking your ball home to pout being better for America than doing what’s possible to stop the Democrat agenda.
alchemist19 on January 9, 2013 at 2:15 PM
the huge joke has 70% approval rating in NJ. if runs for president he would probably carry that state :O
nathor on January 9, 2013 at 2:15 PM
Wait until the memory of Hurricane Sandy fades. This 70 percent rating has no staying power.
blatantblue on January 9, 2013 at 2:16 PM
Scoring touchdowns on the way to amassing more federal debt than all previous Presidents combined (and essentially guaranteeing eventual insolvency) will be an impressive legacy indeed …
ShainS on January 9, 2013 at 2:16 PM
Why are we now getting so many posts about that slug christie? That man is in no way a r and he needs to change to a d asap!
I am happy that those in NJ, for the most part, loves christie, now christie stay THERE!
L
letget on January 9, 2013 at 2:18 PM
sure 4 years its a long time but still, its an amazing feat in a deep blue state!
nathor on January 9, 2013 at 2:18 PM
This guys is going to get whiplash the way he goes right then left then right then left.
gophergirl on January 9, 2013 at 2:19 PM
You might be right but if you are, it will be similar to trying to help a dog that got it by a car. Usually the dog will bite because it’s severely injured. So is the GOP, and the tea parties didn’t do it. We’re trying to save the GOP and it’s acting very ungrateful.
platypus on January 9, 2013 at 2:20 PM
How is Christie still getting huge approvals from Republicans in NJ?
LurkerDood on January 9, 2013 at 2:21 PM
What difference does that make? He still would have to win back states like Florida, O-I-H-O, and Virginia to have a prayer at winning the Presidency. And that ain’t gonna happen given the disdain conservatives have for him. Trust me, there will be a ton of voters who sit at home out of protest. Far more than allegedly did so with Romney.
Doughboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:21 PM
because, he abadoned partisan warfare to care for his state! and republicans like that too.
nathor on January 9, 2013 at 2:23 PM
Yeah but I don’t need the Tea Party or anybody else to tell me who hypoChritstie is.
stukinIL4now on January 9, 2013 at 2:23 PM
Fatslob Christie’s goal is to help obama damage the Republican Party – every Republican should speak out against him, and demand that he make his switch to the democrat party official.
Pork-Chop on January 9, 2013 at 2:23 PM
Really just based in self-interest. Nothing to do with converting people to sound fiscal principles, just people are glad Christie is yelling about federal funding.
blatantblue on January 9, 2013 at 2:26 PM
if he can replace those blockhead republicans with independents and more centrist minded democrats like he is doing in NJ, then he wins too.
for you to know, 60% of democrats also approve of his work! :O
nathor on January 9, 2013 at 2:26 PM
Damn right they’re acting ungrateful. They’re downright hostile. And frankly I have no interest in donating money or offering any support to a party that actively dislikes me and opposes what I stand for(or at least appoints leaders who give that impression).
The GOP is at a critical juncture right now. The Tea Party ain’t going away. They either need to embrace us and incorporate us into the party apparatus or be prepared to see the formation of a third party which would all but officially end the Republican Party’s chances of ever retaking the Senate or White House again.
Doughboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:27 PM
It beats carrying his water which seems to be Boehner’s inclination.
tommyboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:28 PM
I was raised in NJ. The NJ GOP has been trying to get New Englanders to like them for decades. Something about being “real” bluebloods.
I got out as quick as I could. It was very tiring pretending to be one thing out of the house and being the real thing inside it.
platypus on January 9, 2013 at 2:29 PM
but did not christie had some wars with unions in NJ and won?!?!
nathor on January 9, 2013 at 2:29 PM
Lest we forget TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already.
We’ve just hiked taxes on 77% of Americans *at least* and cut about $5 out of the budget. The debt is still looming over the country like Michelle getting ready to attack a McDonalds customer, the stimulus is in the baseline, and the champagne is still flowing in DC.
Objectively, the Tea Party has pretty much failed to achieve any of its objectives at this point.
CorporatePiggy on January 9, 2013 at 2:31 PM
no one in NJ is paying attention to that right now
blatantblue on January 9, 2013 at 2:32 PM
Way to not rebut that leftist presumption, bub.
besser tot als rot on January 9, 2013 at 2:33 PM
Have you been in a coma since 2008? That was the same brilliant approach used by McCain and Romney. How’d those two campaigns turn out? Hell, Romney even won indie voters by 5 points(which used to all but guarantee a victory in the general election) and still got his ass handed to him. You know why? Because you have to turn out the base to win the Presidency. Period. Say what you will about Dubya and Rove, but they understood this. If after two straight landslide defeats, the Republican Party still can’t figure out that disregarding conservative voters while making a play for moderates and disaffected Democrats is a recipe for disaster, then say hello to a third party.
Doughboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:33 PM
It’s almost guaranteed. Tea parties and other conservative groups are working on the details of such a divorce as we type.
Our biggest problem (as the firebugs starting this campfire) is making it a contender (winning?) party from the gate. Otherwise, it will be donkey rule for a generation or more.
platypus on January 9, 2013 at 2:33 PM
Well that’s the rub. There is no realistic way for a third party to win national elections right off the bat. It’ll take decades. We’d essentially have to wait for the Republican Party to vanish before that can happen. In the meantime, we’d be looking at Democrat rule which given what’s happened to this country since 2006 would effectively render the whole thing an exercise in futility since there wouldn’t even be an American left in a few decades.
Doughboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:36 PM
Uh, being a lib troll is indistinguishable from a coma. Thought you knew that.
platypus on January 9, 2013 at 2:37 PM
Yeah.. There really isn’t anything that we can do to stop the agenda. Barry doesn’t even admit that there is a spending problem, so I don’t see how serious entitlement reform is possible. The R party should drop out and hope that Barry overreaches so that they can win in 2016.
Umm.. The reason why you liberal trolls approve of Chris Christie is because he is the newest useful Republican idiot. And he is even cooler than useful idiots like Jon Huntsman because he knifed Mitt Romney in the back and helped your lord and savior, Barry, out of the tough jam he found himself in last October. Once he starts lambasting the next witless union plant at a townhall meeting or trashing Obama in order to win GOP primaries, your love will totally fade.
As for his approval rating in NJ, it is a liberal state. All the people there who voted for Barry in November like the in kind contribution he gave to Barry’s reelection campaign in October. It certainly isn’t because of the shoddy job he has done helping the state recover from Sandy.
Illinidiva on January 9, 2013 at 2:38 PM
Right now, the shadow parallel America (underground economy) is at about 22%-27%. When it gets above 35%, your scenario (which I see coming, also) will be irrelevant. The government will be unable to control enough of the population so that its power will be feared.
John Edwards was right – there are two Americas.
platypus on January 9, 2013 at 2:41 PM
That should say “there wouldn’t even be an America left” not “American”. Obviously we ain’t going anywhere.
Doughboy on January 9, 2013 at 2:45 PM
And since nobody in the media or academia or anywhere will hammering that incessantly into the public consciousness (and will in fact be doing the opposite), it’s a big old “who cares?”
Good Lt on January 9, 2013 at 3:01 PM
Ann. Coulter loved this clown.
Every time he goes off script he reveals his full RINO DNA.
Oh and he will get less votes than Romney if he runs.
SparkPlug on January 9, 2013 at 3:03 PM
That’s actually a good thing.
The unions were dealt a blow here by him, and the fact that he has more clout here in NJ increases his power over them. Keeps them in line.
He’s bee a net plus to NJ, and I’m fine with that.
Good Lt on January 9, 2013 at 3:05 PM
so, I not a true conservative, I must be a liberal troll?! keep expanding that tent!
hunstman could have won the damn elections…
for what, saying that truth? that romney was a well lubricated wheather vane?
or not…
putting the state above partisan warfare is what gave him popularity.
nathor on January 9, 2013 at 3:06 PM
Umm.. you keep posting on a site which you disagree with 100% of the time. This suggests that you’re totally not someone who has ever voted Republican.
Of course an Obama voter wanted Huntsman to win the nomination, especially considering the awful campaign he won. It would have been even easier than Romney.
As a Republican, it was Christie’s job to support the Republican nominee. He chose to put his own future ahead of that and screw over Romney right when Romney was gaining traction. If Christie hates Republicans, including the moderate GOP nominee, so much, then he should just become a Democrat like Crist.
Yep.. you’re going to totally vote for him once he starts calling your lord and savior a commie hypocrite in Iowa in 2014 when he is trying to make those rubes who vote in the GOP caucuses forget about his little buddy movie.
So the Daily Show appearance, the SNL appearance, the Barbara Walker interview, and the Christmas Eve appearance with the Boston Pops were all about him helping his state recover from Sandy in a bipartisan manner.. Silly me.. I thought that those were all about helping burnish Chris Christie’s image.
Illinidiva on January 9, 2013 at 3:20 PM
A thought that I posted on another thread…
Since Fatso has burned his bridges with conservatives, wouldn’t he be a good GOP candidate while we conservatives run 3rd party? Let Christie divide the GOP and Dem vote. The key being that conservatives run a 3rd party.
Divide and conquer…
lucyvanpelt on January 9, 2013 at 3:36 PM
You are correct. It is vital for conservatives that we make a 3rd party run in 2016 – AND, it is vital that a candidate (or candidates) emerges SOON, and runs a real-time, minute by minute 24/7 campaign against Republicans and democrats, and not wait to see whom each party puts forward in a couple of years. If we have a candidate who can respond real-time to every issue over the next four years, we have a much better shot. Personally, I would love to see Sarah Palin or Allen West, among others, run this sort of campaign.
Pork-Chop on January 9, 2013 at 3:47 PM
The Commies in the NEA control the history books. They will write Obama as a great savior while relegating Reagan to a mere paragraph about how eeeeeeeeeeeeeevil he was.
It’s not even a question as to whether or not that will happen.
Myron Falwell on January 9, 2013 at 3:49 PM
Christie, jump ship to the Democrats already and stop being a phony bitch.
CrustyB on January 9, 2013 at 3:51 PM
The conservatives will also need to stand UNIFIED behind a 3rd party. That’s the only way we could actually win against the Dems and the Dims. No one should be allowed to stick around with the GOP for “the sake of party unity” and be considered a credible conservative.
But we must, MUST!!! get an infrastructure set up, and fast, if the divorce is to be had. But I am SO ready.
Myron Falwell on January 9, 2013 at 3:55 PM
playing echo chamber is dull commenting. what I agree with, or at least I am neutral, i dont post. anyway, this blog is dominated by “true conservatives” that want to reduce the GOP to a permanent minority, that conflict is inevitable.
nathor on January 9, 2013 at 3:59 PM
That’s why I think Christie would be a good GOP candidate if there’s a 3rd party. His candidacy simultaneously weakens the GOP and Dem vote.
I like Palin and West, but they do bring negative baggage.
lucyvanpelt on January 9, 2013 at 4:03 PM
Umm there are lots of difference in opinions on the site.. However, voting for Barry twice as you surely did and continuing to gulp down the Koolaid makes you a liberal troll, not an actual conservative.
Illinidiva on January 9, 2013 at 4:38 PM