Once again New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is separating himself from the Republican Party’s talk radio and blog “troll” political culture: he has blasted the NRA for its ad dragging President Barack Obama’s two daughters into the debate. The question: is he too reasonable for today’s red-meat GOP?
Christie, who saw many Republicans turn on him after he supported Obama’s actions in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and the days before the 2012 presidential election, is clearly not concerned about taking on one of the conservative movement’s most powerful lobbying groups. He is also unconcerned about what it might mean for his standing with the GOP base. His office clipped the line about the NRA from the press conference and tweeted it Thursday afternoon.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.