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| Chris Christie |
The moderate-conservative Republican and former U.S. Congressman comes to the New Jersey governor's defense, against conservative critics of him for helping President Obama's image: "To put Christie’s appeal in perspective, it’s worth noting that
conservatism’s main challenge lies not in a sea of particulars on issues
that will fade, but in the ability to outline just how and why
collectivism and top-heavy bureaucracy diminish the public good. Obama
just overcame a litany of broken promises on unity and economic recovery
by caricaturing conservatism as a narrow defense of privilege that
doesn’t bat an eyelash at that larger public interest. To minimize his
success as pandering or slick talk misses the degree to which Obama has
put the right on the defensive."
More: "Christie at his best (see the Reagan library speech) counters by
describing the weak foundations of Obama liberalism: the low respect for
individual capacity, the fecklessness on debt, the timidity in
defending democratic values abroad. He matches the case we all can
recite on slow growth and overreach with a strike at the softness and
emptiness of Obama’s philosophy. There can’t be enough advocates on the right who talk that way. It is
why a liberal press is so eager to read Christie out of the Republican
conversation. He puts too many points on the board for us to play into
their game."
