Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
"When you think Gov. Chris Christie, you think fun," Al Roker declared on the "Today" show this morning.
And with that, Christie began his gig this morning co-hosting -- errr, extended interviewing -- live from Seaside Heights. After a bit of controversy over whether a gubernatorial candidate should be hosting one of the most watched shows on TV, the appearance was downgraded to an "extended interview." In reality, it was one brief interview and a ribbon-cutting with the Christie family.
During a walk-and-talk down the boardwalk with his occasional dining companion, Matt Lauer, Christie was asked about the big reunion next Tuesday: President Obama will visit the Jersey Shore, and Christie will be his host. When Obama last visited -- days after Sandy and days before Election Day -- Christie was hailed alternatively as a post-partisan hero and a heretic to the Republican cause.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
UPDATE: Now Christie has a new TV attack ad, too, here.
State Sen. Barbara Buono, the Central Jersey senator (almost definitely) facing Gov. Christie in the fall, is finally up on the air.
But her new ad -- a mix of retro shots of her from back in the day and pointed shots against Christie -- will not be seen in the Philadelphia and South Jersey television markets. The ad, at a cost of more than $1 million, will run only in the New York City market, which covers North Jersey.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
For the third time, Gov. Christie has refused to link climate change and Sandy.
"I don’t think there’s been any proof thus far that Sandy was caused by climate change,” Christie said yesterday in response to a question from a reporter from WNYC, an NPR affiliate.
Today at a union meeting for teachers, Christie's expected Democratic challenger, State Sen. Barbara Buono, brought up his remark.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
I waded through Christie's campaign finance reports for Sunday's Inquirer. This is what I found:
TRENTON - The hottest new trend in Silicon Valley isn't inventing a gadget, developing an app, or investing in an IPO.
It's giving to the governor of New Jersey.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
We took a look at the sourcing on Gov. Christie's new attack ad against Sen. Buono. Turns out something was wrong. My story in today's Inquirer:
TRENTON - In TV attack ads, politicians often put text underneath the images to indicate the sources of statistics used to skewer the opposition.
But in the ad that Republican Gov. Christie has been running this week against State Sen. Barbara Buono (D., Middlesex), his expected challenger in November, the source cited is unrelated to the accusation.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
I guess the National Rifle Association (NRA) isn't mad at Christie for calling its controversial ad featuring the Obama daughters "reprehensible."
On the same day Christie made that comment back in January, he convened a "violence task force" to address the gun issues that were brought to the forefront of the national debate due to the school shootings in Connecticut.
Based on the task force's report, Christie made anti-violence recommendations that gun control advocates said didn't go far enough. Around that time, two donations came in to Christie's gubernatorial re-election campaign from NRA lobbyist Randy Kozuch, campaign records released yesterday show: $2,000 on March 5, as the task force was completing its work, and $1,000 on April 23, a few days after Christie issued his final gun proposals.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
In today's Inquirer, I look at the politico-celeb (I just made that word up) that is Chris Christie:
TRENTON - Sometime before the Saturday Night Live appearance, before Shaq stopped by to say hello, before the second nod on Time's "most influential people in the world" list, the governor of New Jersey morphed into something else.
He became a bona fide 21st-century celebrity.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
The expected Democratic challenger to Gov. Christie, State Sen. Barbara Buono (D., Middlesex), launched a web site today that lets you to plug in the name of your town to find out how taxes and education spending have changed during the Christie administration.
Called "The Christie Price Tag," the web site says it uses state data to report that, for example, the average Cherry Hill homeowner paid $6,263 in 2009, the year before Christie got into office, but $7,676 in 2011. And it says the law requires that Christie send $20 million this year to Cherry Hill schools -- but he has only budgeted $12.7 million, a loss of $7.3 million.
The web site then asks for your email address, in an apparent effort to mine contact info for potential supporters.
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Trenton press corps held its version of the Washington correspondents' dinner last night, and for the 114th time -- since 1890 -- reporters skewered New Jersey politicians with songs and speeches. I was the first president of the correspondents' club from The Inquirer since the 1940s, and so I was tapped to roast the gov (and several others).
At the last minute, due to Christie's big lap-band news yesterday, I had to throw in a new joke. Here it is: “I guess Springsteen is no longer the band closest to the governor’s heart." (It got a mention in The New York Post.)
Also at the dinner, Christie turned the joke on himself. In a seven-minute cameo-heavy video -- featuring Alex Baldwin and Jon Bon Jovi -- Christie mused on the connection between his famous Sandy fleece and his political power:
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
