Chris Christie is the Republican governor of New Jersey. Although he denies it, many believe that he will join in the race for the GOP 2012 presidential nomination. So, how conservative can the governor of a Democratic state be, even if he is a Republican? Here's an analysis:
Abortion: Christie is pro-life and supports restricting abortion. These restrictions include banning partial-birth abortions and mandating a 24 hour waiting period prior to receiving an abortion. Christie initially referred to himself as being pro-life when he first ran for public office in 1993.
Immigration: Christie opposes offering in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants. He says we should not be subsidizing the education of people in this country illegally. This was most a swipe at Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has recently come under harsh criticism for allowing this in Texas.
Gun rights: Christie believes that states should have the authority in establishing their own gun control laws. He does not oppose limitations on how many handguns a person can buy, but does oppose concealed weapons.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Christie recently withdrew New Jersey from a 10 state pact call the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative which placed limits on greenhouse gas emissions. He claimed that the regulations were not strict enough to change behavior and imposed taxes that were unnecessary given the lack of benefit. But Christie is strongly in favor of offshore wind power. He offers large tax credits to companies that manufacture equipment for offshore wind power.
Gay Marriage: Christie supports civil unions but opposes gay marriage. He does not want to try to pass any legislation against gay marriage though. He believe that any regulations about gay marriage should be placed on the ballot and voted on by the people, not the legislature.
Judiciary Power: Christie believes that the judicial branch of government has overstepped it's bounds and has to much power. However, his opponents say that he is just using that as an excuse to appoint more conservative justices to the court.
My thoughts on Chris Christie: he's the only Republican I'd consider voting for. If the GOP nominates Perry or Romney, my vote is going straight to Obama. The Republicans would be wise to get someone rational like Christie involved in their primary. Recently, with Republicans such as Palin and Bachmann receiving a lot of media attention, the GOP has gone from coming across as a party that looks out for the rich and powerful (Dick Cheney and his Haliburton oil cronies) and could care less about the other 98% of the country, to a party that is losing its grip on reality. They need someone like Christie pronto if the want to stand a chance of taking the critical moderate vote away from Obama in 2012.
source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44719797/ns/politics/#.TokJRnK3Mjk
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ReplyDeleteChris Christie does indeed hold some potential to come out on top among the GOPs, there was an article that I read over the weekend stating that he is a possible threat to not only Mitt Romnety but also Rick Perry, but he needs to act now if he is to gain any support from supporters who are most likely already glued to a certain candidate. He has been known to have said no many times when confronted by the question of his possible run. But there are also many factors indicating that he will run such as the "extraordinary" amount of support he is getting from donors and people who would love to have him run. Whether he runs or not, only time will tell. (I commented this same thing a few days earlier but some error happened)
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