Maddow: Christie May Have Bailed on the Presidency

A friend wrote me today concerning a piece he saw on Huffington Post
regarding remarks made by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow indicating that Governor Christie’s tone at the recent Hurricane Sandy event in Manahawkin was somewhat subdued.

Subdued to the point that he all but conceded 2016 is off his radar and that he’s not considering moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

I told my friend that had I taken the beating he’s been taking, my tone would be pretty subdued as well – and also to consider the source.

The source being Rachel Maddow and MSNBC.

Yes, it’s true – MSNBC has been out in front of the Christie story from “jump street!” And there’s probably no other media outlet gushing more than they are as to the Governor possibly bailing on the 2016 race.

But Maddow’s no dummy. And she does make some very valid points.

According to this:

“I’m not prepared to say definitively tonight that Chris Christie just announced he is not running for president,” Maddow said. “But, compare what he said with the way he usually talks about this thing, and it kind of seems today like Chris Christie announced he is not going to run for president in 2016.”
Christie was in the community to meet with victims of Hurricane Sandy, Maddow explained, when he said he accepted the job of running the state “for eight years, not four years” and assured the audience that “this is where I intend to spend the rest of my life.”
“That is not at all the way that Governor Chris Christie has talked recently about his immediate next few years’ plans,” Maddow pointed out. “Not at all.”
She then played various clips of Christie refusing to commit to serving out a full second term while in the midst of his re-election campaign, insisting that it was impossible to predict what could happen. The deflections continued after he won that second term, with Christie telling ABC host George Stephanopoulos, “Nobody can make those predictions.”
Maddow also noted that Christie’s team was staffed with former members from ex-New York City Mayor Rudolf Giuliani’s (R) disastrous presidential run.
“Not only did he not win; he was the laughingstock of the 2008 Republican presidential primary,” Maddow said of Giuliani, pointing out that the mayor’s skipped the Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries in favor of trying to win Florida.
“Absolute total failure,” she said, pointing out that not only did Mike DuHaime — the strategist who plotted that course for Giuliani — join Christie’s team, but so did field director national field director Bill Stepien, now Christie’s campaign manager; and communications lead Maria Comella, currently serving in the same capacity for Christie.
Now, Maddow said, longtime Giuliani ally Randy Mastro has been called upon by Christie to help him address the growing investigation into his administration’s role in the September 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge.
“If you do want to run for president, following the Rudy Giuliani path is a really weird way to do it,” Maddow said. “But Chris Christie made clear today that he is trying to follow the Rudy Giuliani path out of this scandal. And he may have just announced that his presidential aspirations are over in the meantime.”

After reading the article and viewing the piece, I wrote the following to my friend:

Regarding his choices of advisors, she's absolutely right. I always wondered, back when he first ran for Governor why he was going with DuHaime when it was DuHaime who told Giuliani to sit out 2 primaries. Never got that one, and said as much to at the time.
Now, regarding his tone, can we read into anything he's said recently about spending 8 years here and spending the rest of his life here?
Perhaps, but then again, let's remember, we're looking at things through the lens of "today". He may have had the s--t knocked out of him and is reeling. Doesn't mean he's made up his mind about 2016. Hillary had the s--t knocked out of her too in the wake of Benghazi. Has the media been raking her over the coals over it lately?
Answer: no (outside of O'Reilly), and she's still the favorite to win the Democratic nomination.
So, he's probably just weary from all the negative attention.

This isn’t to say that he hasn’t bailed. It just might be that he’s had that long talk with Mary Pat and the kids and may have said, “gang, we’re not going anywhere…but just make like everything’s the same.”

Again, 2016 is a long way off. We’re looking at things through the lens of today.

But it just might be, whether he knew what all was going on at the GWB or not, that this might have taken the wind out of his sails.

By the way, you can hear what he’ll have to say about that and more on the next installment of “Ask the Governor” January 30th at 7 PM.