What a difference an Election day makes. Leading up to the primary, Chris Christie couldn't go a few talking points without mentioning how conservative he was and the media went along giving us articles like this:
In this campaign, he has staked out fiscally and socially conservative positions.
To prove he is just as conservative as - if not more conservative than - his opponent, Christie baited Lonegan into the Guantanamo Bay question during their last televised debate.
Bret Schundler asked people to join him in voting for a true conservative for Governor and said he knows a conservative when he sees one on a Christie Robo call. Rudy folllowed up talking about the economic conservative Chris Christie in his call. On May 24, Assemblyman Jay Weber put an Op-Ed in the Daily Record titled, "Christie has deep conservative values." Before the primary election, Christie made sure to either say the word or at least stress how conservative his positions were:Now the primary is over and it's time to run to the middle. No doubt Christie will be rushing to correct all of the places that identified him as moderate Christie on the first day of the general election, right? From an AP story, they just jump straight to moderate:
The moderate Christie, who was nudged to the right on economic issues and pushed to declare his personal opposition to abortion during the campaign, will probably spend the next few weeks trying to return to the political center.
But last night, charismatic and fairly moderate Republican Chris Christie claimed a solid victory that gave the GOP the matchup it wanted, a strong candidate to challenge a weakened Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.
Moderate Republican Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, won the Republican primary battle Tuesday by double digits over more-conservative Steve Lonegan, a former three-term mayor and small business owner.
Christie's first test as the GOP standard bearer will be who he chooses to run with him for Lieutenant Governor. Political consultants consultants Julie Roginsky and Steve Ayscue speculated that conservatives might sit home if Christie chose a moderate running mate like Diane Allen. Candidates walk a a fine line trying to appeal to everyone while alienating no one, and in this case, Christie just happens to be getting a little help from the media. First conservative, now moderate, Christie says he's both. It all depends on who he's talking to.
