Free Republic

Stunning a crowded convention, NJ Chris Christie announced to a group of supporters with former President Clinton that he would seek reelection in 2014 as a democrat. The move comes after months of odd behavior from the former NJ republican. Tensions have been mounting between the NJ Governor and the GOP. At this year’s CPAC Convention, which hosts some of the greatest names in the conservative party Christie was denied entrance. Christie struck a sour note with conservatives for palling up with Obama during Hurricane Sandy. The bill to send money to victims was full of pork and republicans wanted...

Two former associates of Gov. Chris Christie do not have to hand over documents to a legislative committee investigating the traffic jam scandal engulfing the governor, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday. Former Christie loyalists Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien had been fighting subpoenas calling for them to turn over documents regarding the plot to create traffic jams in Fort Lee to retaliate against the town’s Democratic mayor. The legislative panel asked for the court’s help in getting the two to comply with the subpoenas. Calling the decision one involving “complicated and untested jurisdictional issues,” Judge Mary Jacobson expressed reservations...

With the January 2016 Iowa presidential caucuses on the horizon, Hillary Clinton is the far-and-away favorite among self-described Democratic caucus-goers, according to a Suffolk University statewide Iowa poll. And while some Republicans have begun visiting the Hawkeye State, the survey shows no favorites among prospective GOP presidential candidates. Meanwhile, the Suffolk University poll of likely general-election Iowa voters shows Republican Gov. Terry Branstad with a strong advantage heading into the June 3 Republican gubernatorial primary, and he leads the sole Democrat in the race, State Sen. Jack Hatch, by 10 points in a general-election match-up. Branstad, the longest serving governor...

On April 1, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray was denied a second term, defeated in the primary by upstart city councilwoman Muriel Bowser. The beginning of the end came on March 10, when U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen struck a plea bargain with a wealthy businessman who confessed he'd spent $668,000 on an illegal "shadow campaign" to fund get-out-the-vote efforts that helped Gray win the mayoral office in 2010. So the corrupt mayor of America's most important city is thrown out. A political scandal? The same networks that were utterly breathless over the local story of Gov. Chris Christie's aides slowing traffic...

The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza has posted footage from comedian Joy Behar's awkward and uncomfortable roasting of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week. In a lengthy piece on Christie published Monday morning, Lizza included details of the recent roast of former New Jersey Gov. Brendan Byrne. Behar, Lizza reported, focused much of her time on stage lampooning Christie. Her quips seemed to get under Christie's skin, and, at one point, he got up from his chair and even motioned as though he might take her cue cards. Behar's first joke in the clip combined digs at both Christie's weight...

If Sen. Rand Paul has any hope of capturing the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, he'll have to convince the conservative base he can be trusted on foreign policy -- which is exactly why Sen. Ted Cruz is his most dangerous critic.Though they have often been allies on domestic policy, anybody paying close attention knew that there was always a big gulf on foreign policy issues between Cruz, R-Texas, and Paul, R-Ky.Whereas Cruz has a much more traditional Reaganite view of a strong role for America in the world, Paul seeks to advance his father's brand of non-interventionism, which advocates...

"...If we don't run Chris Christie, Romney will be the nominee and we'll lose."

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush will make a decision on whether he’ll enter the 2016 presidential race by the end of this year, he said during an interview on Fox News Channel Sunday during the 25th anniversary celebration of his father’s presidency in College Station, Texas. ... He said in the Fox News interview that illegal immigration is, for many people, an effort to provide for their families, and “not a felony.” “It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family,” Bush said. “I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime. There should...

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie’s administration wants to increase taxes on electronic cigarettes for the sake of the public’s health, state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said today. “Our goal is to achieve rough parity with the tax burden on conventional cigarettes. Why? Our main concern is public health,” Sidamon-Eristoff said at an Assembly Budget Committee hearing today. “Contrary to the claims of some users, e-cigarettes have not been shown to be a ‘safe’ alternative to regular cigarettes. Nor are they a proven path to smoking cessation.” Christie’s budget anticipates $35 million in revenue by applying the $2.70 per pack regular state...

It’s a mystery how the chattering class arrives at any conclusion as to the “front-runner” in an election two years away with no declared candidates. First the “front-runner” was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; then, according to others, it was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), despite his obvious unacceptability to a significant segment of Republicans). The polls, if anything, reflect name identification, and in that department former governors Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee generally lead — in a race neither may enter. That is what being a “front-runner” means on talking-head cable TV shows. More relevant at this stage is figuring...

With Chris Christie in deep trouble, Republican poobahs are reportedly looking to Jeb Bush to save their party in 2016. The former two-term governor of Florida speaks fluent Spanish, is a convert to Catholicism, and has high name recognition. Jeb could raise millions of dollars over night by just saying “yes” to running. Despite all this, there are strong reasons Republicans should say no to him. 1. His last name is poison. Let’s face it, if Jeb Bush had the last name of Something Else he would have already run for president in 2008 or 2012. According to a recent...

How bad are things for Meet The Press? The once-dominant Sunday show has fallen into a distant third place. And now Mika Brzezinski has resorted to an embarrassing attempt to promote her network's failing patient. On today's Morning Joe, Mika managed to mention Meet The Press by name no fewer than eight times in one segment. Her argument was that MTP is the go-to place for politicians wanting to make news, and that Chris Christie had blown it by not appearing yesterday, sending two surrogates instead. View the video here.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: After the president met with Pope Francis, Il Papa, he then went over to the Villa Madama, the headquarters of the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. They had a joint press conference that was interrupted. The cable nets actually cut away from this for news about Governor Christie. I kid you not. Here is what we got of Obama's joint presser (not all of it, but some of it) with the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. OBAMA: My day started with the great honor of meeting His Holiness, Pope Francis. I've been incredibly moved by his compassion,...

A push by the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson to outlaw online gambling has ignited a bitter civil war in the gambling industry, dividing one of Washington’s most powerful interest groups and posing a major test of the Republican megadonor’s political clout. Mr. Adelson’s effort officially kicked off on Wednesday, when lawmakers, including a senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the businessman and his family, introduced legislation originally drafted with Mr. Adelson’s lobbyist. The bill would close a three-year-old loophole in federal law, banning online gambling — a growing industry that Mr....

It’s really very, very simple for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. New Jersey’s absurd citizen control fetish doesn’t play well in New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Nevada, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona, or Michigan. These state comprise the first two months of the 2016 Presidential primary season, and the majority of Republican voters in these states are either very pro-gun to begin with, or are trending towards passing much more Second Amendment-friendly laws. Any candidate that doesn’t do well in these early primaries can kiss their Presidential aspirations goodbye, and one of the fastest ways to sink...

The Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University — whose polls on the 2013 race for governor and special election for U.S. Senate were far off the mark — today released a study it commissioned to find out why its surveys were so wrong. ...According to the report, written by Langer Research Associates of New York, Rutgers-Eagleton flubbed by asking respondents a series of questions about the candidates before finally asking who they would vote for. In effect, that “primed” respondents to think more positively about candidates, and made them more likely to choose them when they finally...

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife plowed more than $92 million into efforts to help mostly losing candidates in the 2012 elections, is undertaking a new strategy for 2016 — to tap his fortune on behalf of a more mainstream Republican with a clear shot to win the White House, according to people familiar with his thinking. In 2012, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson spent so much of their money on long-shot candidate Newt Gingrich that they helped extend an ugly intraparty fight that left the eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, severely bruised by the time he faced President...

Does anyone seriously believe an investigation commissioned by Governor Chris Christie into Bridgegate will satisfy his critics? The New York Times waits until only the third paragraph of its report into the exonerating conclusion of the probe to mention the connections between the law firm and the Christie administration, but it still remains the first comprehensive look into the scandal — and finds no connection to Christie himself: With his office suddenly engulfed in scandal over lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey two months ago summoned a pair of top defense lawyers from...

Trenton, New Jersey (My9NJ) - Lately, Governor Christie has been looking slimmer during his town hall meetings and some reports say he lost about 100-pounds from the lap band surgery he underwent a year ago. Dr. Charles Simone formerly worked with President Reagan and he took the time to discuss Christie’s weight loss and health. “It’s very gratifying to see that he lost so much weight and given all the priorities he’s gone through recently and emotionally,” he said.

Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and "Governing America." (CNN) -- ...The weaknesses of both men—Cruz in terms of his style and Paul in terms of his rhetoric—point out how desperate the GOP is to find someone who can build a broad coalition, something that is essential for a presidential victory, particularly when Republicans will likely be facing a formidable candidate. The problems of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have been a huge blow to the party, and there are not many alternatives at...