Posted on 11/03/2013 6:55:45 PM PST by markomalley
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who lost the 2012 election to President Barack Obama, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could “easily” become the GOP presidential nominee in 2016 and “save our party.”
Christie most recently made national news when he decided to drop a legal challenge to rulings in New Jersey state courts that declared same-sex marriage legal there. And not long before that, he changed his position on the question of whether illegal aliens should get in-state tuition rates at New Jersey state colleges. Now he backs legislation that would give that privilege to illegal aliens.
These two moves won Christie a recent article from the Los Angeles Times that described him as having "staked his place near the political middle ground."
Romney’s statement that Christie could “save our party” came even as Time Magazine’s website published an excerpt from the upcoming book “Double Down: Game Change 2012” by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, that was featured above the masthead on the Drudge Report, and that describes a Republican vice presidential vetting process that resulted in Romney himself deciding not choosing Christie as his vice presidential running mate.
“Meet the Press” host David Gregory on Sunday asked Romney about the revelations in this book.
“Well, I know that the vetting people who went through that analysis and put together their report laid everything out,” Romney told Gregory, according to NBC’s transcript of the program. “But, frankly, there was nothing they found that wasn't already part of the public record and that hadn't already been dealt with effectively by Chris Christie. So there was nothing new there.”
A moment later, Romney said: “Chris, by the way, could easily become our nominee and save our party and help get this nation on the right track again. They don't come better than Chris Christie.”
“Look, I know that the Democrats will try and go after him, if he's our nominee, in every way they can,” said Romney. “But you can't argue with the kind of success he's had. He's been a governor, he's about to win I think on Tuesday pretty solidly, and his record as governor really stands out. I mean, New Jersey, after all, is a very blue state. He's a very popular governor in a very blue state; that's the kind of popularity and the kind of track record the Republican Party needs if we're going to take back the White House.”
Gregory asked Romney if he thought Christie was the “odds-on-favorite” to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2016.
“Well, I think it's kind of early to say who's the most electable and who would be the most effective candidate,” said Romney. “But at this stage, you look at Chris Christie and say, That's a very impressive guy, with a great track record, with a demonstrated ability to work across the aisle, with support of labor and blue-collar voters in New Jersey. It's a pretty compelling story. And there are some other very compelling stories: Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio.
“I mean, there's a long list of very capable people,” said Romney. “But Chris Christie stands out as one of the very strongest lights in the Republican Party.”
When pushed, Romney said he was “not going to disqualify” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whom he had omitted from his list of possible Republican candidates with “very compelling stories.”
“Does Ted Cruz stand out to you as a potential light of the Republican Party?” asked Gregory.
“I'm not going to disqualify anybody,” said Romney. :But I think I've indicated some of the names that I think are most effective in becoming elected, and we'll see where it goes.”
He thought he was too fat.
Cruz is going to be the nominee. Just watch.
At what point do these defeated RINOS just shut up and go away?
He was (is) too fat.
I don’t care what anyone says, a person that fat will never get elected President, regardless of where they are on the issues.
Remember that during the Reagan Bush years, the ex-republican and son of an anti-war presidential candidate who had run against Reagan in the 1968 primary, was an independent.
By the early 1990s Romney was supporting and fund raising democrat candidates and even voted democrat, he then re turned to the GOP after Clinton defeated Bush. Romney reregistered republican in October of 1993.
What party would that be, pray tell? Maybe the RINOs need to leave OUR party. Losers.
Christy is NOT our choice...It’s the Old Boy Republicans and the Democrats who are pushing him on us just as they did Romney....
They are coming up early to the gate singing Christy all the way....he’s already making the rounds.....Swartznigger’s trying to get the law changed so he can run...all these Rhino guys already moving on the beat!
The Democrats are going to flood us with candidates, as are the old boys...we cannot let them do that and need to determine very early who we are going to support and do it soon.
They won’t push Rand...nor Cruz....because they can’t pull their strings....ButI will not vote if Christy gets it...and will not put myself thru what i did with Romney ever again!
Romney stole the money from the TEA PARTY given to
him to WIN, but the coward just stole the money with Rove.
DISGUSTING ploy by the father of RomneyCARE/ObamaCARE.
And he has no place to criticize the ObamaCare website, after his disastrous rollout of his ORCA software.
We did have Taft.
Lol, just like he and McCain did?
/ sarc
That was before television.
FUGOP (and FU to HELL liberals.)
<...”I will not vote for the lesser of two evils anymore........”....>
Nope..me neither and be damned those on FR who try and say I’m then voting for Hillary if I don’t....I won’t be playing nice with those who do. I won’t take it from my own side again..never!
GFY, Mittens.
I would LOVE to see that! Watching Cruz debate the Dem candidate would be fascinating!
I will write in Ted Cruz or Sarah Palin.
PERIOD.
I imagine much of the people on here trash-talking Myth and Krisppie kreme will suddenly humm a different tune if Christie's fat #ss winds up as the Stupid Party nominee.
And then of course they'll expect everyone to climb over broken glass to pull the lever for CC and anyone that doesn't will somehow be a socialist, or a political idiot, or a "principled loser...." etc etc etc.
And since the sheeple vote for candidates like Myth and Christie and Dole and McCain - the Stupid Party sees no reason to change.
It reminds me of a Jewish Natzi
Exactly so. Enough of the base ran away in 2012, that Obama was able to keep his job. You'd think that conservatives would have learned this lesson last year, with the abject failure of Mitt RINO.
Unbelievably, some Freepers are still blaming the base for his loss, instead of realizing that many of them couldn't bring themselves to vote for a Democrat In All But Label Only.
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