Christie's Charismatic Tea Leaves

by: Dennis Hyer

Sun Nov 15, 2009 at 04:39:55 PM EST

The election was only two weeks ago, and already I'm tired of hearing about Chris Christie's "charisma" ...  

In public appearances since Election Day, Christie has been blunt, funny, pugnacious, decisive, and, above all, forceful. He has been comfortable joking with teens and mingling with politicians, in control when dealing with the press, and defiant toward opponents and detractors.  

[...]  

Christie's public persona is a sharp contrast to that of Gov. Corzine, who often has been fumbling in the spotlight and meandering in his speech, leaving the public and lawmakers to parse his words for possible meanings.

We're supposed to elect a governor based on whether or not we think he can do the job and make life better for our state. Not because he has the "blunt, straightforward" personality of the average guy you'd find getting a cup of coffee at Wawa. No disrespect.  

Christie "is very straightforward, very direct, very blunt, and very New Jersey" said State Sen. Bill Baroni (R., Mercer), a close ally. "That bluntness and directness is exactly what we need right now."  

Baroni added that "there will be no need to read the tea leaves to figure out what Chris Christie thinks."

Tea leaves. That's funny. Because all through the campaign, Christie kept us guessing about what he would do when elected, substituting the always-reliable "cut spending" bromide for an actual plan. So what spending are you gonna cut, dude? Transportation? Education? What?

Maybe the tea leaves will tell us.