The Importance of Being Chris Christie
On January 21st 2014, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, was sworn in for a second term in office, mired in scandal and uncertain of his future. Despite winning a landslide election just seventy-seven days previous, his administration now faces accusations of corruption and misappropriation of funds. Though the content of Christie’s speech promoted a message of unity and hope among his fellow New Jerseyans, it was hard not to draw contrast between the positivity of what Christie was saying and the reality of his situation. His delivery was sombre and subdued, unconventional for a man who built his career around his undeniable charisma and uncompromising attitude. But these are unconventional times in the Christie administration. Murmurs of corrupt activities by Christie officials came to national attention early in January after emails were released as part of enquiries by Democratic legislators. Their investigation sought to answer why the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City to the town of Fort Lee in New Jersey, was suddenly closed for four days last September. The emails revealed that members of Christie’s inner circle forced the closure of the bridge, the world’s busiest, in an act of political retribution, reputedly against Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor, who refused to support Christie in the gubernatorial election last year. Separately, the mayor of the New Jersey town of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer, has come out alleging that Christie withheld relief funds for Hurricane Sandy, which battered New Jersey in October 2012, for political reasons. She claims Hoboken received $300,000 instead of $11 million, and was told she would not receive the rest until she expedited a development project that Christie had a personal interest in. Christie has denied any personal involvement in or knowledge of either incident, but now finds his administration the subject of three investigations. He immediately fired two of his top aides, who authored the emails, after the bridge scandal came to light. Regardless of whether Christie colluded with his aides or not, he now faces an uphill battle to save his political career.
Prior to these scandals, Christie was arguably the most electable man in United States politics, commanding sky-high approval ratings. In November, he won re-election as Governor of New Jersey, taking in over 60% of the vote; an incredible feat in itself, but even more so when one considers that Christie is a Republican and New Jersey is a widely Democratic state. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Christie was lauded on both sides of the political aisle for his response to the disaster, propelling himself into the national spotlight as the man who put party politics aside to represent and fight for aid for the people of New Jersey. With only seven days left until election day in the 2012 Presidential Election, Christie personally thanked Barack Obama for his response to the Hurricane Sandy crisis in a much publicised press conference. This crossed party lines at the most inopportune time for the Republicans and was seen by many as an example of Christie’s contempt for partisanship. As Mitt Romney struggled to catch Obama in the polls, some argue that Christie’s affiliation with Obama was the final nail in the coffin for Romney. It’s no great secret that Christie has presidential ambitions of his own, which in many ways makes the scandals he finds himself neck deep in all the more significant. In his four plus years in office as Governor he has maintained strikingly high approval, with career-high ratings of 73% in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. He is widely considered to be pro-green energy, and in recent years has poured huge money into education reform. While opposed to gay marriage, he doesn’t regard homosexuality as a sin, unlike many of his Republican counterparts. The fact that his moderate policies and no-nonsense personality appeal to Democratic, Republican and independent voters alike are perhaps his greatest assets. Analysts have widely touted him to be the only Republican candidate capable of beating Democrat Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical Presidential race, but it’s uncertain how these scandals will affect his ambitions.
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” the now fired Bridget-Anne Kelly says in an email to a fellow Christie aide. Another unidentified Christie aid admits feeling “badly about the kids” who are missing school due to the traffic congestion. “They are the children of Buono voters,” is the reply. Barbara Buono was Christie’s Democratic challenger in the 2013 election. Several more emails ridicule Fort Lee’s mayor as he scrambles to figure out why the lifeblood of his town has been suddenly cut-off. Those snide and callous remarks from Christie’s aids helped to put his administration under two investigations, with a third stemming from his alleged misappropriation of funds in Hoboken.
Despite firing two of his top aides and hosting a two hour marathon press conference after the bridge scandal came to light, during which he apologised some two dozen times, Christie knows he’s politically damaged. Unless the investigations find evidence of Christie’s personal involvement in either scandal, it’s likely the worst punishment Christie will face is bad publicity and a Presidency that might now be out of reach for him. If he is complicit, he would likely be impeached and forced to resign his Governorship with the possibility for jail time. John Wisniewski, Chair of one of the commissions investigating Christie, told reporters that “using the George Washington Bridge, a public resource, to exact a political vendetta, is a crime.”
With twenty subpoenas already issued among the three investigations, and the likelihood of more to come, the future for Chris Christie and his administration remains uncertain. At the moment, the most likely outcome of these scandals for Christie is a sharp drop in his ability to influence and get things done as Governor, as a distinct lack of trust now surrounds him. Since the election in November, his job approval rating has dropped nineteen points to 46%. Given that the next Presidential Election is almost three years away, it is too early to tell whether Christie can weather this storm and remain in a strong position as the Republican primaries roll around. But one thing is for certain, voters across the United States and beyond will be seriously questioning what sort of President would Christie be —and whether or not they can trust him.
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