Chris Christie plans to announce his official run for the presidency in the coming days, reports Politico. MSNBC helps to confirm this assertion, reminding us that a month ago Christie said that he was “no wallflower” and would say something by the end of June.
It’s true that Christie’s tough-guy demeanor and willingness to throw heaters from the mound make him no wallflower. However, if he WERE a wallflower he’d be Greg Richling, bassist for the band the Wallflowers from 1993 to 2013. I mean, look at Mr. Richling and then compare it to the photo above.
Can you see the resemblance? It’s all in the nose and the jaw, in that ever-pouting lip, in that determined glare that says “I’m going to ‘look the other way’ while my top aides organize the worst traffic jam in the US since 9/11 in retaliation to Mayor Mark Sokolich’s refusal to endorse me for reelection.”
Okay, but seriously, until the Koch Brothers touch one of the far-right contenders with their creepy Midas fingers, Christie is the only other Republican who really challenges Jeb! for the front-runner position.
Right now, though, Christie is far behind. Bridgegate dropped his approval rating in New Jersey to 30 percent and he’s not polling well in New Hampshire. But the US’s love of true toughs (not glam toughs like Trump) definitely outweighs its hatred of alleged political scandal.
We love John Wayne for his apparent toughness even though in life he was a draft dodger named Marion. John McCain’s whole Straight Talk Express campaign leaned on his tough-guy persona. Conservatives fan themselves when they remember Reagan’s demand that “Mr. Gorbachev tear down that wall,” a line he wanted left in despite protestations from his chief of state, Kenneth Duberstein.
On the left, the appeal of Bernie Sanders is inextricably linked to his irascible, wild-haired, shit-stirring tough-talk, and opinions about Elizabeth Warren often employ the rhetoric of toughness.
Plus, the US is kinda famous for being quick to forgive its politicians for their scandals. So Christie might knock Jeb! off the top of the mountain. After all, nothing is forever.
