Talk Elections

Christie seems to be doing everything possible to let it be known that he would like to be president some day.  If Obama wins reelection this year, then there will be an open contest for the 2016 GOP nomination, and it'll give Christie as good a chance at the White House as he'll ever have.  So if he wants to run for prez in 2016, will he run for reelection as governor in 2013, or pull a Mitt Romney and retire after one term to focus on his presidential ambitions?

Romney passed because he would lose. Christie will win in a landslide.

Would that necessarily be the case if Booker runs though?  Maybe Christie would win that race now, but 17 months is a long time, and any number of things can happen.

If Christie ends up finding himself in a competitive race, then think about the media dynamics that'll develop.  Because everyone will know that Christie is a likely 2016 candidate, he will constantly be asked pointed ideological questions designed to box him in, so that he has to choose between appealing to a 2013 New Jersey general electorate and a 2016 GOP national primary electorate.  He can choose the former and win reelection but perhaps risk weakening his chances in 2016, or choose the latter, and risk losing reelection.  Is Christie really so popular in NJ that he can risk already having one eye on 2016 while running for a second term that he doesn't actually intend to finish?

Booker said he's running for re-election in 2014, so Christie is safe.

What Snow said.

Christie could certainly lose to people other than Booker.  However, he could also very well win reelection, while Romney was likely to lose by double-digits.

He's running and is favored. Romney was definitely going to lose. It's a win-win for Christie.

Boy, that 2016 field...

It will be interesting to see who gets to lose to Andrew Cuomo. ;)

A race between Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Chris Christie (D-NY) would be interesting.

First Italian - American President either way. One guy that I'd definitely love to see claim that title and one guy that I'd definitely would not. I'm not buying this moderate-ish Cuomo and his dad really irritates me.

I love Mario, but not Andrew. Given that he's already antagonized unions and inner city minorities, I don't see him winning the nomination anyway.

I was under the impression that Booker had no intention of running against Christie but wanted to continue to work besides him by running for senator of NJ in the future. In terms of Democrats and Repubs working together Christie and Booker have a great dynamic

This probably.

Booker isn't the only person who can beat Christie. Likewise, Booker wouldn't be invincible either.

The President's party tends to do poorly in off-year elections, so Christie would be the favorite for reelection.

I imagine that he would run for a second term, as he seems to enjoy being Governor, and it gives him added credibility in later cycles.

That said, Romney and Edwards have shown that winning a single term is enough to be a credible contender for some time, following in the footsteps of President Jimmy Carter.

I agree but Christie is definitely favored right now. I just can't stand Booker, he's turning into Harold Ford Jr. 2.0.

And the 37th year of destruction of working class of america will begin.

I think unless his approvals take a steep dive and/or a strong challenger emerges, then he will. I agree with the notion that Booker will try for the Senate instead in 2014 due to the likelihood that Frank Lautenberg retires.

Plus, I think stepping down after one term would create too much of paralel to Romney, which only hurts him in this scenario. 

Not only does Christie run for reelection regardless of who wins, but he wins too.  He wouldn't be a favorite but he would still probably win.

That sentence makes no sense.

I dislike the term "favorite" and would prefer a term like "frontrunner".

I can't agree with you more.

If anything Booker should run for Senate, Lautenberg is pretty old and hecould retire/die in office before 2014. Also, Booker won't run against Christie like has been mentioned before in other threads. Because Christie has been a strong and important political ally for Booker's reforms in Newark.

Christie runs for re-election in 2013. Democratic opposition will either be former US Rep Steve Rothman who was a victim of redistricting. US Rep Robert Andrews from South Jersey who ran for Governor in 1997 but lost in the primary to McGreevey.

No it won't.

It'll be a State Senator or Assemblyman. I'm thinking either Buono or Greenwald.

Buono is a disaster. She lost her Majority Leader spot in the state senate to Loretta Weinberg. Greenwald? Ah maybe kind of a centrist dem like Sweeney is. Those South Jersey Dems are nowhere near as liberal as their Northern Jersey Counterparts on economic issues.

 Andrews? Yeah nice candidate but I think his time has passed to get the Dem Nomination I think for Governor. I personally don't want to see Rothman run. He will bring us back to the Corzine days of too much spending.

I think if Christie doesn't run in 2013 for Governor in the Repubican Candidates might be one of the Kean Brothers(Tom Jr. or his brother Sean), or Joe Kyrollis.

I personally though do want to see Christie run for re-election which I think he will. He has brought good reforms to this state. Still there is more to be done....

There seems to be some obsession with Cory Booker taking down Christie. And I get it, it's a nice thought. But the thing is, Cory Booker and Christie have a terrific working relationship. Christie got elected, in no small part, due to Democrats like Booker sitting on their hands during his race vs. Corzine.

Booker gets absolutely nothing out of challenging Christie in 2013. He's got to stab a dude he helped get elected in the back, which makes him look terrible to the other insiders he has to deal with. He gets a hard race that he's not even favored to win. He gets retribution from the Christie admin post-2013 if he loses. He loses any sense of power he has over the Democratic party as the savior, the one to unite the warring factions of the NJ Dems via power of pure charisma. He loses frontrunner status for 2017, which is ridiculous, because he'd be heavily favored if he ran for the '17 open seat.

Chris Christie may lose in 2013. He probably won't. Democrats' best bet here is former Gov. Dick Codey in the sense that the public has a positive opinion of him, but he's got troubles when it comes to uniting the Democratic party factions. Funny how that works. It'd make for a very interesting, academic rate: ugly turnout in the cities, offset by better than expected margins in the suburbs.

No other Democrat will really have the resources to win. Republicans have been PHENOMENALLY smart about applying pressure to Pallone to make sure he doesn't have a massive bankroll in his congressional account to start out the 2013 election with. It's just a really hard state to run a campaign in if you're out of power and your opponent is favored. Jim McGreevey kind of limped to the finish line in 1997. He was just lucky he had a terrific message.

Codey was actually kind of popular with Republican Voters in the state when he was an interm governor after Jim McGreevey left.

McGreevey that message he had worked 4 years later for him though. He even carried Ocean County when he won the governorship in 2001.

Democrats need to pour $100M+ into NJ 2013.

Corzine is a little tied up for the next few years.

yes, as if he would lend a hand, but I have scores to settle!  nothing blocks coitus like a paternal figure, aloof as he may be, and he's voting one way... Christie to the dustbin!

Booker has already conceded that Christie is unbeatable. Especially by a teachers union lackey like Buono or Weinberg.

You really think teachers unions have that much power? Seriously?

I agree with krazen. With either Democrat, this is shaping up to be Christie's race to lose.

Well, I wasn't referencing the election, I was more referencing his "teachers union lackey" comment, since krazen seems to be under the belief that teachers unions are powerful enough to have any political candidate in their pocket.

Obviously though, yes, Christie is nigh-unstoppable at this point, unless there's a dead girl/live boy thing going on.

Christie is considering not running again, or so says Politico. If an open seat then the Dem will win.

From the Politico article:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78730.html

Teachers unions are exceptionally powerful in New Jersey; certainly more so than any other state I've ever lived in.

Good sir, if you are serious about that inquiry, let me link to you their own policy paper on what, before Christie, was a 'challenging' legislative session. Then, imagine for yourself what they did in a 'non challenging' legislative session.


And, compare education spending per pupil in your home state of Utah to New Jersey.


http://www.aimitsolutions.com/njea/WestNewYorkEA/absolutenm/articlefiles/40-NJEA%E2%80%99s%20Legistative%20Successes.pdf


PENSION AND HEALTH BENEFITS LEGISLATION (P.L. 2007, c.103): This new law
makes several changes to public employee pension and health benefits plans. It codifies NJEA~s agreement with the Corzine Administration during the Special Legislative Session on Property Tax Reform. Most significantly, this bill guarantees eligible public school employees' premium free post-retirement medical benefits. NJEA worked tirelessly with Administration and
legislative officials to draft and enact this historic piece of legislation.