Oh what a fool I was, because for the life of me I can’t quite figure out how it was that I could ever have been fooled into thinking that this guy was anything other than an ego on steroids. And one, I dare say, rivals that of Barry "Almighty." And it would seem that Chris Christie, by refusing to say he’ll support a possible GOP challenger to Gov. Andy Cuomo next year, has demonstrated, yet again, why he’s perceived by so many as being not much of a "team player." And by so doing he may have done some potential damage to his chances of becoming president, or so state and national GOP insiders have now implied.
"Christie already has a problem with many Republicans refusing to forgive him because of his embrace of [President] Obama and his socially liberal policies,’’ said someone described as being a nationally prominent GOP operative. And this nameless, faceless operative went on to say, "But this bizarre behavior in suggesting he won’t help a Republican defeat a Democratic governor, and a Cuomo no less, could finish off his chances of becoming his party’s nominee for president in 2016.’’ Personally, I would like nothing better than to see Christie perhaps be made to suffer from some additional self-inflicted wounds.
You see, apparently it was just last week that old Andy Cuomo claimed that Christie, who is now, strangely enough, the new head of the Republican Governors Association, an organization whose purpose is to elect GOP governors, had quickly called him to say The Post was wrong in reporting that the New Jersey governor was ready to back Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, should he become the Republican nominee for governor next year. "I spoke to Gov. Christie this morning, who told me the exact opposite,’’ Andy contended in reference to last week’s "Inside Albany" column. Imagine that?
But, and was to be expected I dare say, Christie spokesmoron Colin Reed refused to confirm or deny Cuomo’s claim, referring questions to Christie political consultant and longtime GOP operative Mike DuHaime, who likewise refused to make any sort of comment, one way or the other. Meanwhile, some of those who are close to Astorino said they would be dumbfounded by Cuomo’s claim, since not only has Christie become responsible for trying to elect more GOP governors, he’s also, they say, had longstanding friendly relations with Astorino. But let’s keep in mind here that Christie, cares only about Christie.
Other Republicans, meanwhile, said they were somewhat surprised that Cuomo would disclose what presumably was a private personal phone call from Christie. "Cuomo has put Christie in a really difficult position,’’ said a prominent GOP operative. The Post’s report on Christie’s plan to back Astorino was based on sources close to Astorino who were familiar with an hourlong private meeting between Astorino and Christie held last month at the RGA’s annual meeting in Arizona. After it was published, the report was described as accurate by state GOP Chairman Ed Cox, who attended the RGA gathering.
Democratic insiders say that Andy and his little team of sleazy political aides are doing nothing more than what Democrats always do. They are now engaged in what has been described as being an all-out offensive in an attempt to pressure Astorino not to run for governor next year. "They’re trying to head off contributors to Astorino, spreading the word that he’s not going to run, trying to convince Republican money people that he doesn’t have a chance, and letting it be known that the governor won’t be happy with those who go with him,’’ said a source close to the state Democratic Committee.
According to recent polls, Andy would easily defeat Astorino if the election were held today, but of course it isn’t. But apparently Andy fears the popular county executive, who won a landslide re-election last month despite being a conservative in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1, would be a strong enough vote-getter who, even in defeat, could damage Cuomo’s chances of being able to run for president. Not isn’t that a scary thought, a president Andy. Be hard to determine who would be worse, Andy or Christie. Either way it would be a disaster that would only compound the disaster of what will be then the last 8 years.
Frankly, it doesn’t take a genius to see that there is very little difference in many of the positions held by either of these two left-of-center guys. As we all know, Christie seems to have absolutely no problem with gay marriage, he favors some level of gun control and is a big supporter of the bogus theory of climate change. And while he seems to fancy himself a conservative, and loudly refers to himself as such at every opportunity, he’s really nothing more than someone who is of the RINO political persuasion. And haven’t we learned anything from having run a RINO in the last two presidential elections? Come on people, we can do better.
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