Why Not Christie?

Governor Chris Christie’s favorability numbers in New Jersey have plummeted from their post second-election highs to their current lows.  Yet, he continues to act like a contender in a crowded field struggling for position in the race for the GOP 2016 presidential nomination. 

 

Whether he decides to run or not, he is unlikely to garner the Garden State’s vote in the 2016 general election against whomever the Democrats choose as their candidate for U.S. president. 

 

New Jersey is a true-blue state, covered from nearly one end to the other with Democratic Party influence.  Moreover, Christie’s entanglements with opponents to public sector pension reform have not endeared him to those committed to the status quo on this third-rail-of-politics issue – none of this comes as a surprise to Christie.

Should he decide to join the GOP primary fray, it won’t be because he is counting on his home state’s electoral support, however much he may desire it.

 

What a shame!  A side effect of his presence in the White House could bring a bit of economic progress to this part of the northeast.  Some presidents (even senators, if they are powerful enough) could, and did influence how money flows back to their home territories, to wit:

 

Ted Kennedy’s prominence in the nation’s Senate, together with his ties to the House of Representatives through his friendship with House Speaker “Tip” O’Neill were largely responsible for the successful override of Ronald Reagan’s veto of funding for much of the multi-billion dollar price tag associated with Boston’s “Big Dig” project.

When John F. Kennedy was president, Cambridge, Massachusetts became the site of NASA’s Electronics Research Center.  Long after his assassination though, it was closed by President Nixon after much partisan wrangling.

 

Like it or not, those are manifestations of how political power works.

 

Did you know that we in New Jersey are bone-dry-last in all 52 of these United States when it comes to how much cash we get back from the Feds for every buck that we send them in taxes?

Sixty-two cents on the dollar!  That’s right, $0.62 cents!  That is not a very good investment – one does not require an advanced degree to figure that out. 

 

There are major infrastructure, education, and socio-economic problems in New Jersey that are crying out for attention – the type that additional monetary resources and better fiscal planning could go a long way to help ameliorate.

But don’t count on too much of D.C.’s help.  The Oval Office, and the boys and girls on Capitol Hill are having too much fun redistributing 38% of all those New Jersey greenbacks to other parts of our great nation.

Thanks for checking in.  Look forward to great weather tomorrow.