I strongly agree with many of Trump’s arguments including opposing disastrous "free trade" agreements, halting Immigration until our borders are secure, and a refusal to readmit any Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan, or Afghani fighter on the side of ISIS, al-Nusra and the multitude of extremist groups. If Trump wins the nomination, I will support him over his Democrat opponent. However, Trump governing as a Conservative is far from guaranteed. For all of his faults, he definitely loves this country and surely he understands that our founding document advocates free enterprise. He presumably understands that socialism, whenever implemented, requires fascism to control the populace. Fascist Hitler called his party Democratic Socialists but fascism was his instrument of control. Trump may be a Jim Webb Blue-Dog Democrat, but certainly not a Democratic Socialist.
So why was Christie's hatchet job on Rubio relevant to this discussion? Christie acted like a petulant child. His pugnacious New Jersey attitude mirrors Trump’s aggressive and unpleasant demeanor. While familiar to the Tri-State area, such behavior alienates millions across the land able to control their temper and advocating for “cool, calm and collected” decision making. The two candidates arrogantly presume that each alone deserves of the nomination. P same egocentric attitude cemented Obama's victory in 2012 at a time when Christie’s exuberant embrace of the president following Hurricane Sandy possibly cost Romney the general election. How? Romney successfully exposed Obama as divisive and incompetent up until Christie’s hug enabled the media to turn that narrative on its head.
For some reason, Christie pulled that same NJ shtick on the well-liked, appealing, and probably the most electable candidate in 2016, Marco Rubio. A Christie Hatchet Job Reverberates. Again, he leads both Democrats in essentially every national poll. Rubio is strong, young, speaks Spanish, and utters one phrase resonating with every American: "America doesn't owe me anything; however, I however owe a debt to America I can never repay.” He echoes my feeling and that of many other first- and second-generation Americans. America gave my family freedom from persecution and the ability to persevere with hard work to achieve something only imaginable in their country of origin.
Every time Rubio speaks about his hard work to pay off student loans, that resonates with over sixty percent of my generation. When Mr. Sanders proposes free everything, Rubio’s can-do spirit shines even more brightly. Rubio emphasizes one line he so strongly believes about Obama, that Obama’s actions are intentional, not feckless or ill-considered as the other candidates assert. At the debate before the New Hampshire Primary, Christie took a gratuitous swing at Rubio and said what only a Leftist would. Christie’s ego destroyed his chances. His arrogance and narcissism exposed his narrow self-important view. He lost sight of the larger electoral picture. As predicted in my earlier Christie article, when he put all his chips in New Hampshire and failed, he had to drop out. The contest was over for Christie before New Hampshire primary votes were even counted. Instead of going after Trump, the front runner, Christie shot himself in the foot. At the bottom of the polls, he tried to take down the guy in third place in order to build himself up. His internal polls told him he was done, but still he delivered an unnecessary blow to a man emphasizing a very important and relevant point. Why?
Christie showed his true colors. He proved that we were right to reject him as our nominee. I wanted Christie to run in 2012 as did many Conservatives favoring this governor before November 2012. Christie never had a shot after that unforgiveable Obama hug. In New Hampshire, he placed sixth. His crass behavior eliminated a person with dubious temperament and questionable decision-making skills from the race. If Trump wins the nomination, selecting Christie as his VP wouldn't surprise me, although it seems highly unlikely.
However, Rubio deserves an objective look. His state and federal record, his character, his ideology, and his leadership recommend it. He did not deserve a hatchet job by an arrogant, narcissistic, and allegedly corrupt governor.