Christie boldly declares that Romney will win debate -- and election
Gov. Christie blanketed the TV airwaves this morning to defy political prognosticators from the media and his own party, declaring that Mitt Romney's gaffe about the 47 percent is irrelevant, that the presidential race will be "turned upside down" after Wednesday's debate, and that he'll be too busy working for Romney's reelection in 2016 to run for president himself.
Christie boldly declares that Romney will win debate -- and election
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
Gov. Christie blanketed the TV airwaves this morning to defy political prognosticators from the media and his own party, declaring that Mitt Romney’s gaffe about the 47 percent is irrelevant, that the presidential race will be "turned upside down" after Wednesday’s debate, and that he’ll be too busy working for Romney’s reelection in 2016 to run for president himself.
Largely absent from the Romney campaign trail since his keynote address at the Republican convention more than one month ago, the New Jersey governor returned in a big way Sunday morning, appearing simultaneously on the This Week, Face The Nation and Meet The Press.
“He’s had a tough couple of weeks, let’s be honest,” Christie said of Romney on CBS’s Face The Nation.
“But there’s great news for Republicans. We have a candidate who’s going to do extraordinarily well Wednesday night...he’s going to lay out his vision for America, he’s going to contrast what his view is with what the president’s record is and the president’s view for the future. And this whole race is going to be turned upside down come Thursday morning.”
How can a single debate change several polls that show President Obama leading by increasingly wide margins? “Tens of millions of people really for the first time will be tuning into this race,” Christie said on NBC’s Meet The Press.
“This race will really start to tighten and move in Gov. Romney’s direction."
Asked to acknowledge the political problems caused by Romney’s dismissal of 47 percent of the electorate in a now famous gaffe, Christie changed his defense. A few weeks ago, he blamed reporters. This time, he said the American people don’t care.
“They know political candidates at times when they're being taped are going to say things inartfully,” Christie said on Face The Nation, comparing it to the time in 2008 when Obama mistakenly said there are 57 states in the country.
Christie dodged questions about whether Romeny would raise taxes as part of a bipartisan spending cut deal. Asked to explain why Romney hasn’t offered more specifics about his economic recovery plan, Christie argued that Obama has been even more vague. In one of several critiques on the media this morning, he said on Meet The Press: “I wish you guys were just as tough on the president.”
“The president's just trying to run out the clock," Christie added on Face The Nation. "He desperately wants to run out ot the clock with platitudes that sound nice."
Whatever the president’s strategy may be, it seems to be working. Obama has increased his lead over Romney nationally and in swing states since each party’s convention, polls show.
As is always the case, Christie was asked about his own political future. Is Christie still the “future of the Republican party” after delivering what two critics described as a “prime-time belly flop” in his keynote speech at the Republican convention?
“Mitt Romney is the future of this party," Christie said on Meet The Press. "He's going to be elected president."
And that's why Christie wouldn’t say whether he would run for president himself in 2016 if Romney loses.
“Mitt Romney’s gonna win," Christie declared on Face The Nation. "So it’s a question I don’t need to address. I hope in 2016 to be working hard for Mitt Romney's reelection as president of the United States.”
This comment has been deleted.— Hemingway- Yes, nothing will erase anything that Romney says but Obama's failed Presidency and consistent unemployment over 8% will be ignored. Sounds about right. — jimbo jones
- fat chance in romney winning with either debate or election. — the lopez!
- Called whistling past the cemetary. All Obama has to do is ack mittty why this week he's all for people using the ER as their medical coverage, when two years ago he was assailing those who used the ER, saying they cost us and the hospitals money and they shouldn't use the ER. Or he can ask mitty why he was in favor of covering children in Romney care but won't in Obamacare. Or where he's going to create those 12 million jobs he's promising. The president will just have to sit back and let mutty hang himself with his own words. — mike l
- Obese individuals are less able to inhibit the impulsive desire to eat than people of normal weight, especially when their blood-sugar levels go down below normal. Control those impulses, Christie.— gordon7
Sorry, Chris. Too little, too late.— CCRichards- Have another Pizza you fat disgusting Slob and count down the days until you develope full blown diabetes.— citysims
- Guess he saw a vision in the filling of his 12th Krispy Kreme. Sugar toxicity is the only explanation for such blithering nonsense.— A836
- What would be an example of a platitude that didn't sound nice? Talk about inartful expression.— clarktacular
- What did you expect this knucklehead to say?— PhillyTerm
- "Inartfully" is not a word you can find in any dictionary. Go ahead and try to look it up. But isn't that just like Christie to make up something when he doesn't want to admit the truth??— F. Harry Stowe
- How did he stop eating long enough to say anything?— mrnmkr
- If Christie really thought Romney had a remote chance of winning this election, the NJ governor would have hoisted himself up onto the VP bandwagon and begged Mitt for a chance to run as his sidekick. Christie knew better however, and bailed out of the leaky GOP boat long ago. He knows a loser when he sees one. He's now just doing his due diligence, being the good soldier, hoping his time will come and he'll be rewarded for his party loyalty.— Boru
- Fox news has declared Romney winner of first debate.— alisculp
- "Mitt Romney is the future of this party" not a very bright future. Christy if you really believe this not are you a dummy but a fat dummy!— phillypepper
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.
