Christie kudos for a South Jersey blogger

Anyone who reads my old friend Dan Cirucci's eponymous blog knows where the man stands.

A Camden native and longtime Cherry Hill resident, Cirucci, 66, is a frequently funny and proudly partisan Republican. He's also an unabashed Chris Christie fan, and during a campaign appearance in Mount Holly last weekend the governor lauded blog and blogger alike.

"I love the Dan Cirucci blog!" Christie exclaimed (audio link here), in response to a question from...Dan Cirucci.

"I go there all the time, and you know it," the governor added. "You do a great job."

Cirucci, who first met the governor during a 2009 campaign swing, admires Christie's straightforwardness and common touch. "He's real," the blogger says.

And it turns out Christie was indirectly responsible for "the most hits (the blog) ever got," Cirucci adds. "Rush Limbaugh mentioned the blog on the air. He quoted something I wrote about Chris Christie. I got so many hits that the blog crashed."

But while the governor is good box office, "the biggest single sustained story hit," Cirucci says, was driven by "photos from the Philly Naked Bike Ride."