He’s taken a couple of shots at her in the past, all of which went ignored, but I guess the latest iteration of “she needs to be less scripted” finally demanded a response. Ace’s co-blogger, DrewM, makes a nice point: Her critique of Christie on spending at the beginning here is actually a non sequitur vis-a-vis the question she’s being asked. David Asman mentions Christie but all he wants to know is if, unlike him, she finds anyone in the field inspiring. To which she responds by … comparing their records on spending, forcing Asman to repeat the question when she’s done. Says Drew, “She came prepared to smack him.” Indeed.

It’s a tragedy that the two of them won’t both be running next year. That primary war would be so epic, you’d need a Greek poet to blog it. As it is, politicos watch and wait breathlessly for his reply. Exit question: How is it that a Republican governor in a deeply Democratic state like Jersey is showing little courage by tackling unions and pension reform? The government may be broke, but Christie theoretically could go the Democratic route and push tax hikes or float bonds rather than demand cuts. And why do we assume that he’d have done differently than Palin did if he had the chance to govern a state — a red state, where he has an electoral advantage — with a surplus? He didn’t make the mess but he’s trying to clean it up, even though Jersey’s liberal voters might very well end up punishing him for it. Click the image to watch.