My least favorite Republican. And my favorite. Same guy.

I'm going to say this right up front: I don't find many reasons to like or respect New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

First of all, because he tends to say dumb things and say them very well. It isn't unusual among Republicans to let slip the occasional dumb thing, but Christie tends to do it with humor, even at his own expense; this tends makes his nonsense easier to swallow. Worse, he tends to say things that would make good material for Obama speechwriters if Christie hadn't twisted reality around and aimed it right back at the Democrats and Obama. Never mind that he seldom has evidence to support him; he talks about his feelings and his impressions, and on this level he is hard to refute.

I could say this is disingenuous, but I'd rather say it's downright dishonest. Means the same thing.

A case in point--something he said at the Republican National Convention: "We win when we make it about what needs to be done; we lose when we play along with their game of scaring and dividing." This sounds very much like something a Democrat would have said about the Republicans, since the Republicans have always been the first to play the "fear" card. But Christie said it about the Democrats...whether it made sense or not. He seemed to be banking on the idea that if it was said well by a personable fellow, people wouldn't notice he was selling snake oil. For the most part, he was right.

He's also been quick to lay the blame for Republican obstructionism at Obama's feet. When the bipartisan "supercommittee" failed to come to an agreement on debt reduction (thanks to Republican obstructionism) he blamed Obama, saying that the President acted as a "bystander" through the negotiations, and raved "What the hell are we paying you for?" What I remember of that time is Obama trying desperately to build consensus and running headlong into Republican roadblocks, but Christie conveniently ignored such facts to get a good soundbite.

Look, I could go on for a while here, but I think I've made my point; I don't much like Governor Christie.

But then along came Hurricane Sandy.

New Jersey was devastated. As Governor of New Jersey, Christie should have put politics aside, put the brakes on his relentless attacks on Obama and worked with the President to manage the disaster, to help those in need and to begin the critical job of rebuilding.

And that's exactly what Christie did.

He dropped his role as Mitt Romney's surrogate and threw himself fully into being Governor of a storm-ravaged state. And never having been one to pull punches, he saw a President that was working very hard, and very effectively, to bring genuine relief where it's so desperately needed, and he publicly praised him for his efforts.

The Right went into panic mode. How could their fair-haired boy, the chubby darling of Mitt Romney's campaign, suddenly forsake the campaign and actually praise Barack Obama? They didn't know what to make of it. They started looking around for reasons, for excuses, grasping at any straw that didn't require them to give Obama any credit for doing his job.

Instead, they speculated that Christie's apparent reversal (it was hardly that) was politically motivated. That perhaps Obama threatened to withhold aid if Christie didn't play along. (Rush Limbaugh delivered this gem accompanied by the world's worst Barack Obama impression, one that sounded racist to me.) Others have stated that Christie must be positioning himself for a run at the presidency in 2016. Other theories abound, coming waaaayyyy the hell out of Right field.

But there's one explanation for Christie's "reversal" that no one on the Right seems willing to ponder: Christie is the Governor of New Jersey, and he's acting like the Governor of New Jersey. Why wouldn't the Governor praise a President who's made the time during the last days of a bitter, close election do his job, the job of a President during a national crisis, and do it damn well? So what if Christie is snubbing Mitt Romney; what the hell can Romney do for his state? Even if Romney wins this election, Obama will still be President for three months, will still be in position to help New Jersey for weeks when New Jersey is going to desperately need help. Of course he turned to Obama for help; how the hell could Romney help him or New Jersey?

Christie has shown little desire for either the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. He seems to have no strong ambitions beyond being the governor of New Jersey. And he's got to run for Governor again before the next Presidential election; how can anyone fault him for being the best governor he can be, for working with his President to save his state during a great disaster, for praising that President for a job well done when the President has indeed done a damn good job?

Look, I'm not saying that I suddenly love Chris Christie. I found his dishonesty during the campaign (until this week) difficult to accept, and his "bromance" (not my observation, but what it's widely called) with Obama doesn't make that easier. In short, he hasn't exactly redeemed himself in my eyes. But then, he doesn't need to; I don't live in New Jersey.

I'm going to close with one more Chris Christie quote:

"I don't give a damn about Election Day," he told an interviewer this week. "Let the politicians who are on the ballot worry about Election Day. It's not my problem."

Damn, I could almost like this guy.

The Blues Viking

The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.