Chris Christie

What's next: Bill Clinton cutting an ad vexing David Vitter on the issue of fidelity?

Of all people, Ed Schultz spent an entire segment this evening going after Chris Christie . . . about his girth.

I counted no fewer than seven separate barbs that Schultz directed Christie's way over his weight.  He began with a photo of the NJ Governor with the graphic "Battle of the Bulge."  It got heavier from there.

Just before he left for his vacation, New Jersey's conservative Republican governor Chris Christie announced his next reform initiative. That initiative is pension reform.

For details on just how bad the pension crisis is in New Jersey make sure you check out this post at the Eyeblast blog.

Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appeared on Wednesday's Today show and deftly handled all of Matt Lauer's pointed questions from whether or not he was worried about "taking on" the "sacred cows" of unions and teachers, if he will support Barack Obama's small business legislation, and even if the governor's criticism of Snooki and The Situation was good for Jersey Shore tourism. On taking on the "sacred cows" Christie told the Today co-anchor "We're treating the people of New Jersey like adults." And when pressed by Lauer if he'll support the President's legislation that, as Lauer put it, "would help small business" Christie clarified: "What I'm in favor of is trying to lower taxes and lower regulation on small businesses so they can spend more of their own money creating jobs." [audio available here]

And finally, Christie and Lauer shared a laugh when the subject of MTV's reality show the Jersey Shore came up as Christie pointed out the cast was originally from New York and exclaimed: "Hey listen they're yours to begin with Matt. I have enough problems here. I mean an $11 billion deficit I gotta take Snooki and The Situation also? C'mon! So much a man can take, Matt!"

The following is the complete interview as it was aired on the July 28 Today show:

A New Jersey man who lives out of his van appeared at a town hall in Roxbury, New Jersey, to voice his support for Governor Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and his policies. He says they will provide people like him the best opportunities to improve their situations.

Make sure you visit this post at the Eyeblast blog for more details on and discussion of the interaction.

"If you don't think this is a screwy system, I don't know what is!"

Almost instantaneously, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) vetoed a just-passed tax hike. Thus far Christie has stuck to his conservative guns in a not-so-conservative state.

Make sure you visit this post at the new Eyeblast Blog for the full details and to weigh in on whether or not Christie is a conservative superhero.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has grown tired of a media double standard on politicians who use "combative tones" and made sure the reporter demonstrating the double standard knew it. Watch as Christie slams the reporter:

Make sure you read this post on the new Eyeblast blog for more information on Christie.

Does the National Journal's Hotline inhabit the same universe as the rest of us?  Democrats lost two-out-of-three among last night's big races.  But in declaring Winners and Losers among non-candidates involved with the campaigns, the only Losers Hotline saw were . . . Republicans and conservatives, with nary a Dem in sight!

Chris Matthews was only too happy to seize on the Hotline hitlist during his Sideshow segment on this evening's Hardball.  Here were Hotline's three Losers:

• Sarah Palin: for jumping into Hoffman's losing cause, whereas McDonell and Christie didn't invite her in and won.
• Pete Sessions: the Chairman of the NRCC, who went 0-2 in special congressional elections.
• Club For Growth: which backed Hoffman.

Hotline's inconsistent logic was glaring . . .

The G.O.P. had two big victories yesterday in off-year elections, winning the race for governor in New Jersey and Virginia for the first time since 1997. The New York Times's coverage was dominated by three themes used to explain away the success of Republicans:

The Republicans won by appearing moderate.

The congressional race in upstate New York revealed deep divisions within the G.O.P.

These off-year elections don't mean much anyway (except when Democrats win).

1) Republicans Won by Moderating:

Even after wins by two conservative Republicans, the Times spin was that moderation had prevailed, arguing that both New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie and Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell won by trimming their social conservative stands.

In a Tuesday web post before returns were in, the paper's chief political reporter Adam Nagourney said that even a win by Virginia conservative McDonnell would be a victory for moderation: