So, unexpectedly, Chris Christie won a second term in New Jersey.
The shocking, and sad part, is the democratic crossover: 32% of democrats voted for Chris Christie. This is highly perplexing to me, as this is the same man who degrades teachers, vetos minimum wage hikes, and other various things that should infuriate democrats.
There are a multitude of articles out there that are lay out Christie's conservative credentials.
Christie reminds me to another politician who used to be in a similar situation, one I wrote many a Kos diary about. Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts (and, amusingly, Scott Brown may have been more moderate than Chris Christie).
The defeat of Scott Brown and triumph of Elizabeth Warren should have been a very clear and concise blueprint on how to defeat a popular Republican in a very blue state.
What people liked (and arguably still like about Scott Brown) is his style. His campaign ads amounted to nothing more than pointing at his vehicle and going "TRUCK!", but it clicked with people in Massachusetts. Add into that mix a politician who has the persona and air of bucking his party when it's politically expedient to do so, and all of a sudden, you have a republican emerge out of a blue state.
Ultimately though, what made Brown fall out of favor was the guy had no substance to his style. His positions were politically expedient, and he found it impossible to balance both the blue state he represented and the red faction that threatened to primary challenge him.
Add into the mix Elizabeth Warren. She was unrelenting in her attacks on Scott Brown. She successfully was able to show that, yes, being a liberal in a blue state is a GOOD thing; and point out how anathema Scott Brown was to everything that represented.
In other words, she had both style AND substance. And on election day, the senate seat not only flipped back into democratic hands, but so had returned the liberal lion that once represented it.
Christie, like Brown, has good style. It resonates with the people in New Jersey. But when you look under the hood, there's nothing there. New Jersey is, ultimately, a blue state. But rather than confront this issue head on; New Jersey democrats panicked. Cory Booker (arguably the best democrat to take on Christie) ran for the hills, and Barbara Buono had almost zero support in her campaign.
Now what we're left with is murmurs and utterings of a Chris Christie 2016 presidential campaign; right on the shoulders of democrats. They said the same thing about Scott Brown when he won in 2010. However, MA democrats fixed that mistake swiftly and promptly, and now the guy is a running gag last seen on Fox News.
And yet, no one, even now, seems to point out that Chris Christie is all style and no substance.