SALON

Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 3:23 PM UTC

Why Mitt Romney is no Chris Christie

For all his many faults, the New Jersey governor has leadership qualities the GOP nominee sorely lacks

By

Topics: 2012 Elections, GOP, 2016 Elections, Chris Christie, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Natural Disasters, Hurricane Sandy,

Why Mitt Romney is no Chris ChristieChris Christie and Mitt Romney (Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder)

The most promising Republican leader on the national stage is confident, consistent and charismatic.  And he sometimes curses, too.  That leader is Chris Christie.  And Mitt Romney is no Chris Christie.

I’m not saying I support much of what Chris Christie stands for.  As governor of New Jersey, Christie raised taxes on the poor and middle classes while advocating tax breaks for the rich.  Christie vetoed marriage equality legislation and said that civil rights should have been subject to a “popular” vote in the 1960s. Christie pushed a voucher plan to drain money from public schools to fund private education while bashing teachers and other public sector unions.  And after all this, New Jersey’s unemployment rate hovers around 9.8 percent as of September — a full 2 percentage points higher than the rest of the nation.  Not much to be proud of there.

So this is not an ad for Chris Christie, it is an observation about what is missing in Mitt Romney.  Months ago, it was striking that Republicans as diverse as Ann Coulter and Henry Kissinger were encouraging Christie to run.  That’s not because they all agree with where Christie stands on issues but because Republicans simply like that Christie stands for something at all.  And yes, they like his tough talk.  In fact, after four years of the often-obsequious Obama, I like Christie’s tough talk too, even if I don’t like what he’s talking about.  And in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Chris Christie is again coming across as the forceful leader Republicans wish Mitt Romney could be.

But the other important contrast between Chris Christie and Mitt Romney is that Christie is all over television this week rightfully praising President Obama’s leadership in disaster recovery. “The President has been outstanding in this,” Christie told the “Today” show.  On “Morning Joe,” Christie said, “It’s been very good working with the president. He and his administration have been coordinating with us. It’s been wonderful.”  Contrast this with Romney’s failure to support President Obama’s leadership on healthcare reform (despite the fact that Obama copied Romney’s policy in Massachusetts) or in Libya and Iran (despite the fact that Romney repeatedly says he would do there what Obama is already doing).  Part of what makes Christie a maverick is his authentic willingness to call a spade a spade and a good idea a good idea, even if it came from a Democrat.  Republicans and Romney, who have done nothing but obstruct and attack from Day One, should take notes.

And yes, that includes federal disaster aid, which is a Democratic idea — one Republicans, including Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, want to dramatically slash.  As a governor facing tough times, Christie values the role of the federal government in providing aid and oversight to states, especially in times of crisis.  CEO Romney simply wants to outsource everything to the state level, further drowning them in a fiscal disaster.

When President Obama tours storm-ravaged parts of New Jersey with Gov. Christie, Americans will see what it means for taxpayers and political leaders to come together and with strong leadership and investment in our common good.  Meanwhile Mitt Romney will be off campaigning to unravel the fundamental purpose of our nation.  The television cameras, and Republicans’ hearts, will understandably be trained on Christie.

More Sally Kohn.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 42 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( profile | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Facebook has been used to find ex-lovers, childhood BFFs or the one who got away. He used it to find the guy who, without his consent, made him his drug mule.
191 points192 points | 18 comments
vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
123 points124 points | 36 comments
vote
Poll: 3 in 10 voters say “armed revolution might be necessary” - 29% say they believe they'll have to act "in order to protect our liberties" in the next few years
44 points45 points | 16 comments
vote
Capitalism, not feminism, killed home cooking–and fixing our broken food system is gonna take a lot more than some privileged women embracing “new domesticity”
30 points31 points | 19 comments
vote
"New evidence reveals big banks still illegally foreclosing on thousands of homes – and weak settlement allows it."
27 points28 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations