Young Bridgewater Student Steals the Show

This morning’s town hall meeting featuring New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was hosted by the JCC (the Jewish Community Center) in its gymnasium on Talamini Road in Bridgewater.
 

Bridgewater student Adam Bernstein queries
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at
this morning's town hall meeting.

The Governor finally made it to our township after two prior, but necessary cancellations.  His arrival had been widely anticipated:  Although the event was scheduled to start at 10:30 AM, people had already filled the JCC parking lot to capacity shortly after 9:00 AM, and vehicles were already lining adjacent roads.
 
If you arrived after 9:45 AM, good luck getting a seat.  Priscille and I arrived around 9:15, and ours was one of the last vehicles to be admitted into the JCC grounds, where we were directed to park the car to the right of the entrance road, with room for only a few more cars.
 
The gathering filled the gym to standing room only.  A near overflow group of New Jerseyans lined both sides of the room and stood along the back wall, where a large, rectangular podium had been set up for a big contingent of print and TV media.
 
Governor Christie arrived just a couple of minutes after 10:30 AM to a rousing welcome and, when he took the mike, immediately began to quip about how he seems to never see the front entrance of any facility that he appears in, joking that he has passed through an endless series of kitchens and back door entrances.
 
You’ll read, see, and hear in other media articles, video and TV news reporting all about the Governor’s remarks and the Q&A session that followed.
 

For the moment, suffice it to say that Christie was on point in his comments, and that there were no confrontational exchanges – proving that tough questions don’t have to be asked and responded to angrily and in bad taste.
 


New Jersey's Governer Chris Christie addresses
the audience in his introductory remarks before
taking questions in Bridgewater this morning.

No negatives occurred this morning.  It was a good reflection on this community.  Make no mistake, though:  If you want to tackle this guy in a public forum, you’d better be prepared, have your position well staked out, and be brief and to the point. 
 
It’s the ending of the Q&A session that probably took everyone by pleasant surprise. 
 
The Governor had just acknowledged and responded to what he said would be the last question of the day, when he appeared to spot a small figure at the center of the front row looking for attention.
 
Sitting next to his dad, a young boy and Bridgewater resident, Adam Bernstein, a 5^th grader at the Hillside Intermediate School in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, rose from his front-row seat, accepted the portable mike handed to him, and asked the Governor the following question:  
 
If the Giants win the Super Bowl, will the post-game victory celebration be held in New Jersey?  The place burst into an uproar of approval.
 

Father and son, David and Adam leaving the grounds
of the JCC in Bridgewater after the conclusion of
Governor Christie's town hall meeting.

Well, if you watched Meet the Press last Sunday where Christie emphatically dubbed the Giants the “New Jersey Giants,” and underscored that the stadium is here, the players live here, train here and play here, there was little doubt as to what the reply would be. 
 
The audience broke out into a jovial mood, as a widely smiling Christie prefaced his answer to the young Adam by insisting up and down to the gathering that this was not an end-of-session, setup question. 
 
The light mood of this audience, prompted by the nature of Adam’s question as he stood beside his admiring dad, caused Governor Christie to wholeheartedly pronounce that “not if, but when the Giants win the Super Bowl,” that he would have a serious conversation about that with John Mara, a Giants owner.
 
Who can resist such a compelling question from such a young and sincere source? 
 
Christie might actually be able to pull off this name change, whether or not the New Jersey Giants win the Super Bowl.  If he does, David and Bonnie Bernstein will be two even prouder parents.

(Click on any image for an enhanced view.)