2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumChristie could end up being a gift that keeps on giving if he runs for Prez.
Why? His mouth. It flies in NJ but won't fly nearly as well elsewhere. He is combative as hell. And if Hillary runs, and I hope she does, people won't take kindly to his constant Hillary-bashing and Obama-bashing. Hillary will have an army of women from across the spectrum and African Americans mad as all hell at Christie who is unapologetic for the way he trashes people with whom he becomes annoyed. And they will be out campaigning like hell for her (as will plenty of progressive men and young people, me among them). He says he is proud of his bullying demeanor. We'll see how well it plays outside NJ. One thing that will be fun will be watching him and Ted Cruz duke it out. That'll be a blast.
TlalocW
(15,386 posts)Because of all the publicity he's getting, yes, but the tea-baggers are going to go after him because he palled around with Obama, and the religious nuts are going to go after him because in their eyes he gave up the fight against marriage equality in New Jersey. They're going to pile on him during the debates, and it will be fun to see him lose his cool then.
TlalocW
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Or at least I hope they have the balls to do this. They've been playing up to him so far. But uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, so to speak...
ZX86
(1,428 posts)A loud mouth Jersey Shore asshole bullying them to "Shut the fuck up and vote for me".
grasswire
(50,130 posts)He hasn't been examined under the national spotlight yet. John Heileman was salivating at the prospect.
TeamPooka
(24,231 posts)Lugnut
(9,791 posts)Christie is a loudmouth bully. He can get away with his behavior to an extent on the East coast because his demeanor isn't that unusual here. I don't think he'll play well elsewhere either.
Rozlee
(2,529 posts)...while I believe many women can get in the gutter and fight as dirty as men, often, men can get piled on for being "too rough" on a woman. Rick Lazio discovered this during his debate with Hillary Clinton during their run for the senate when he marched up to her and invaded her personal space, looking bullying, condescending and threatening, while Hillary held her ground looking unruffled and dignified. Conservatives sneer about it when females are running for office, stating that women can't take the heat because they complain that they're being picked on over the smallest thing. That's how they try and spin the argument that their opponent is weak or that she has an edge over their male opponent, who they opine, can't beat a woman in a fair debate without looking like he's bullying her. We have too many gentlemen on the Democratic ticket. We had Harry Reid, who was always composed and courteous against barracuda Sharron Angle. It's possible we might have lost that race if Angle hadn't enraged Latinos with her insulting ads and sent them to the polls in droves. That was one woman who could give lessons on castrating. She used every opportunity to call Harry Reid weak, ineffective and unreliable and as one article stated, make it sound like a poor sexual performance.
Gender and race politics matter. And if Hillary runs in 2016, Christie's bullying demeanor won't fly too well on the national forum. Whether he's debating against her or any other woman in the primary, a huge overbearing man, snarling and booming out insults will garner sympathy for his opponent and admiration if they remain composed and unflappable. He can pull off being a bully against people in his own state. The job of president requires gravitas and a cool head. You can't bully a world leader whose co-operation you need like you do a middle school teacher. And even if Christie can control his mouth, which he can't, the misogynist atmosphere against a Democrat woman running would be toxic among the conservative base. They'd manage to turn off women in the electorate, no doubt. I've seen some of the insulting Hillary campaign pins teabaggers are selling already. They are all demeaning and degrading to women. The whole 2016 campaign would be poisoned with their misogyny.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)too many horror stories abound.
I hope you are right and they will self destruct because of their misogyny. If Christie is smart he won't do it. But I'm not so sure he's that smart...I think his mouth will get the better of him...and it will be a one way ticket to Palooka-ville...
Rozlee
(2,529 posts)Perfect place for him.