Introducing your convention keynote speaker, Chris Christie
And the consolation prize goes to Chris Christie. Short-listed but passed-over for the vice presidential nomination, Christie will give the prime-time keynote address at the Republican Convention two weeks from tonight, providing GOP nominee Mitt Romney some Jersey-style support and giving the New Jersey governor the biggest stage of his political career.
Introducing your convention keynote speaker, Chris Christie
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
For our full story about the keynote speech in today's paper, click here.
And the consolation prize goes to Chris Christie.
Short-listed but passed-over for the vice presidential nomination, Gov. Christie will give the prime-time keynote address at the Republican Convention two weeks from tonight, providing GOP nominee Mitt Romney some Jersey-style support and giving the New Jersey governor the biggest stage of his political career.
Christie has long been considered the Republicans' best choice for keynote speaker because of his national prominence -- and because he provides the party a fresh face and unique voice. Another new Republican on the block, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, will introduce Christie, GOP officials announced.
This is a huge boost for the first-term governor's career. A young senator from Illinois gave the same speech for his party's convention in 2004; four years later, he became president of the United States.
Christie isn't talking to the local media about his selection but he did a national interview with USA Today, saying: "I'll try to tell some very direct and hard truths to people in the country about the trouble that we're in and the fact that fixing those problems is not going to be easy for any of them."
If that sounds dour, no worries. He said his 20-minute address will also touch on his successes dealing with these issues in New Jersey.
Asked about whether he hopes the convention speech will be a springboard for a future presidential campaign, Christie told USA Today: "It's not what you say but what you accomplish."
The New Jersey Republican party is thrilled about the pick. Party chairman Samuel Raia released this statement: "From implementing historic reforms to lower the cost of government, to reforming education to serve every child in our state, to tackling the property tax crisis caused by the Democrat leadership over the last decade, Governor Christie has proven time and time again that he is the transformational leader he said he would be."
Ummm, "white steal beam??" My Temple journalism degree just threw up a little.— bartello- Governor Porkchop dodged a bullet when Mittens picked Ryan. Porkchop understands that Mittens is too much of a stiff elitist to be accepted by the American public. Add in Mittens refusal to release tax returns and making his fortune off the misfortune of others and there is no way any intelligent American would vote for this fraud.
Mittens lost the election by picking Ryan. His plan to eliminate Medicare and Social Security while showering the rich with even more tax breaks will never be embraced by Americans.— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine - It will be good for the GOP nationally. Fox and the republicans have pretty well convinced America that Christie is actually popular in NJ. It sure won't make a difference in NJ.— PhillySteel36
- I like watching right wingers head explode. Although, I never really can grasp the anger and hatred out of them.— thingfish
- I think they've lost all of the substance they once had and are now entirely about image. Republicanism has become flag waving and taxes with no real direction for the last decade. Scareing people, pointing fingers, xenophobia, even holding up the debt limit and getting our rating downgraded. It's as if they could care less if the country goes down the drain as long as we can blame Obama. — PhillySteel36
- Republicans adoration of Christie reminds me of how they reacted to Arnold Schwarzenneger when he was elected govenor of CA. They were ready to elect Arnold president a couple of months after he was elected. A couple years later, they understood how inept he was. Christie is following the same path. He's achieved nothing of substance. Yeah, he cut state spending and dumped problems on local communities. What about reforms that make government more effective? Education reform? I must have missed that. Let's wait to see what happens to test scores in a few years before we assess his policies. Christie is at his peak now. He'll be forgotten in a few years.— MikeP
- And Matt will be under the podium— BillHicksLives!
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.
