CHRISTIE NEEDS YOU

Like the image above, Chris Christie is pointing out to all of us for our help. The driven, powerful, determined man needs more than your vote on election day. He needs your voices. A single vote is not what is going to change America, it is word of mouth. The spreading of a message by good will and voices will spread faster than any ad campaign. Social media in today's world is the perfect way to get all of your friends "in the know" about the Gov. from New Jersey.

Go on your twitter right now and share this video. The hilarious dancing with Jimmy Fallon shows the real Christie who is a fun loving guy that anyone can relate to!

Christie is often portrayed as too harsh a guy buy this is clearly not true. In order to help push goodwill his way, we must work to share positive messages and teach people about the issues he stands for like his stances on Pro Life issues and the economy.

When Christie gets his website up and running, do not be afraid to volunteer to help on the campaign! All help is needed and welcomed.

God Bless America and God Bless Chris Christie.

#ChrisChristie2016

What the Media Is Saying

So what is the media saying about Mr. Christie... lets use our handy-dandy google search engine.

Hmm well the first thing that pops up is a 538 article how Chris Christie is not John McCain. The eye test says that they are in a similar situation. The deeper story shows that ultimately McCain was not nearly as far behind as Christie is in New Hampshire which is a big state for winning a nomination in a party. So in other words 538 says nice try Christie who only is gathering around 9% of the favor. 538 is not really a huge supporter of Christie so it is no surprise to see a pessimistic attitude.

The second article is from International Business Times "Chris Christie Gave Millions More Pension Dollars To Donor's Firm Than Disclosed, Documents Show" which ultimately says New Jersey law won't allow him to receive anymore money from donors. $16 Million is no chump change. The article confuses me because I am dumb. You call can decipher if you want.

The last of the top three is a CNN story that discusses Christie wanting the US to take another look at the North American Trade Agreement. The story is pretty bipartisan and highlights that this issue is one that many republicans and democrats agree upon. It is again a recent story thus its high placement.

This news is all things that is being covered by the media and not from the the camp of Christie. These three articles are naturally slanted against Christie with it being liberal, but CNN gives the least  bias coverage of the three articles. The news media is always going to grab the top of the page and with Christie not having a great media presence, it is not surprising to see this.

I think if Christie is going to take a step towards the Republican nomination, he will need to push to get his own messages out on social media. If not, he will be taken over by the "liberal news media" and will not be a contender in the election.

Liberal Vs Conservative Media on Christie

It is interesting to see how the media will cover something as simple as a plane ride. Governor Chris Christie is always a target for angry liberals to unleash some built up anger. The New York Times ran a story showing that Christie is beginning to become a luxurious brat. (I Guess)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/nyregion/in-christies-career-a-fondness-forluxe-benefits-when-others-pay-the-bills.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

The article from the word go nails Christie as someone who is selfish and now a "changed man." The idea that he is okay with others paying for his private flights has made him different than all politicians in the history of politics. (Lol) Words like ethics are thrown around quite a bit to try to nail him as someone who is doing something wrong. In the very long drawn out story, the soul of the story is centered around the idea that Christie is sucking money out of people and is now out of touch for doing the same things all politicians do.

The story picked up attention for other reasons than Christie. Fox News heard of the article and decided to write a response article breaking down the piece done by the NYT and the clear bias that was shown in the article.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/04/new-york-times-targets-chris-christie-for-his-champagne-tastes/

Fox News by all means is definitely a bias source but they do debunk many of the things that are shown in the NYT article. The first thing that they debunk is what I have been hinting at the whole time; that all politicians take private jets and do this. They make the argument that this is nothing new in the political world and that they are attacking the politician just because he was low hanging fruit.

They later go on to debunk that he was just flying for the hell of it and rather actually doing work, which justifies him going and bringing family is irrelevant if it is a private plane.

While there is not a whole lot of positive being pumped out for Christie by Fox (I don't think he is a fan favorite) they do defend the idea that he should not be treated than other politicians and deserve to be treated equally. If you read the Times story, you may think that Christie was a major douche (unless you are an informed citizen) and if you read Fox you would probably just be confused.

Ultimately it is very good to read both sides of the story to get the full scoop. Thanks bias media.

Christie SNL Parody

No one is safe when it comes to the skits on Saturday Night Live.  SNL has been doing parodies of celebrities and politicians for decades. The long running show has been successfully spoofing George Bush, Nixon, Palin and many others to show the lighter side of American politics.

In 2014, Chris Christie had a rough year, incase you missed my other blog posts. Highlighted by the bridgegate scandal, the ebloa "crisis" was only the icing on the cake. SNL did not miss the opportunity to portray the Governor in a not so great light as he took extra precautions with nurse Kaci Hickox who many had believed she had been infected with the virus. The video cannot be embedded but can be found here. or http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/christie-cold-open/2823745

The video very quickly portrays Christie as many many parodies portray him as very harsh as he answers immediately "yeah what" when announced he is there withe them today. This harsh idea of him is only further pushed when he is asked about how Hickox believed she was being treated inhumanely to which he answered "you need to shut the hell up."

The next jab is at the state of New Jersey and it's often trashy portrayal. He says having a porta-pottie in a tent in a park is considered a luxury condo in New Jersey and that they have plenty of good takeout places in the state. He goes on to say the immune systems of the people of New Jersey are weak from bad tattoos, vodka, and other not so great things.

Christie later expresses his sappy love for President Obama and his acceptance to listen to him regarding the Hickox situations saying it's hard to say no to a man who spent three hours with him during Sandy watching houses float by saying "woah look at that one."

Finally when asked about whether he was running for the Presidency we hear the first weight jokes brought up comparing himself to a likable Kevin James type for the American people drawing parallels to the over-weight comedian. He calls out Jeb Bush and Rand Paul saying they never would have had the "stones" to do the quarantine and because he worked as a mall Santa Claus as a kid, he knows about hard work and has the stones, further making a fat joke.

To ask SNL what they think of Christie in one word, that is perfectly summed up in the word brash as they use it in the description of the video to tell the "truth" behind the video in his "usual brashness." Not something that Christie particularly wants to be tied to. While he is tough nosed and does not stand down, brash is not a quality he would like to be known for.

Ultimately, this video though funny, does not make people want to vote for Christie. It shows him as a brash, irrational, fat man who is not capable of making decisions for himself let alone the country.

Christie Ads

In 2013, Chris Christie was re-elected as the Governor of New Jersey. His very successful first campaign was highlighted by many star studded accomplishments. During his first tenure, Hurricane Sandy hit which devastated the North East region of the U.S. When it came to advertising for the 2013 election, Chrsitie was all about letting people know the quality of a man he truly is with a few key issues sprinkled in. 

The first ad of the campaign season was one that got the issues out for the Gov. The strong handed approach pushed the ideals of being bipartisan, his education improvements, balancing the budget and even dropped in some hints at Sandy. The most powerful point of the video is when it comes to a close and we see a dream-worthy shot of Christie with the simple words "The Governor" like out of reference to "The Godfather." The very simple, yet powerful words resonate with the people of Jersey and show his power. 

One of the next ads that was pushed out by his campaign was featuring the unlikely face of Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq Diesel is apparently a big fan of Christie and he lets the people know it by saying he rarely endorses politicians and that Christie is "a good man, I'm sorry great man" which definitely hits a different demographic that many politicians  cannot hit. A pretty strong image ad brought to the people by a famous face.

This emotional ad is told through the voice of Christie and he tells his Sandy story and his first moments of being there. Christie talks of what he saw and the people he spoke to and met. This reaches the people through a powerful image ad. The black and white imagery pushes the emotional aspect of the piece.

The last video that I examined is a true embodiment of the people of New Jersey. Frank is a firefighter who talks about his experience with Christie and his dedication to the state. This image ad is a perfect push to the people as he stressed the backbone of the Gov. and his feel for not taking crap. It just screams out Jersey. 

Chris Christie won the election as I previously mentioned, and Christie did it by running very positive campaign messages that highlighted the type of man he is. It will be interesting to see if when he likely runs for President, if he will keep the same strategy.

Christie Behind In Early Polling

It is is still very early in perspective to the 2016 Presidential election but it is never too early for polls for the Republican nomination.

Since the start of 2015 there have been five major polls that I can find gauging the election status of the Republicans being the most recent the one conducted by Quinnipiac University. In this recent poll, they had Scott Walker surging to the top with our man Chris Christie in third with Huckabee with 8%. In the combination of four polls (Excluding CPAC) they have Christie in sixth with Scott Walker leading the way.

Again this is way early for the election and thousands of things can happen before the election but this is not the ideal situation to be in. Christie is favored in certain polls but in the PPP poll they have him 20% behind Walker. The democratic polling system certainly would not favor a man like Christie but it creates a tougher image of being way behind for him to fight. So often these polls do have bias and an agenda and that can occasionally cloud the results (Paul with the CPAC)

On the flip side of things, just being in top 5 of most early polls means that he is a legitimate contender with a strong "brand" name. People will see his name and immediately think possible next President of the United States.

Chris Christie is a powerful, outspoken man who will no doubt make a strong push for the candidacy. The early polls say that he has some work to do. It is not surprising since the Bridgegate scandal, but as time progresses and more scandals and other negatives arise with others, the importance of his scandal will dwindle. He is a legitimate candidate and he will take stock in these polls but not shut down because of it. He will make a full-out social media push and get a stronger name brand out and he will gain momentum.

Source:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html

Chris Christie 2016 Budget Address

Chris Christie had the task of addressing Trenton Lawmakers today to discuss the budget going forward this year and where he stands and where the state will be making changes. The link can be found here or http://www.app.com/story/news/local/new-jersey/2015/02/24/chris-christie-budget-speech-text/23966629/

In the speech Christie is trying to make the economy seem as bad as it really is. He is trying to use persuasion to be able to win over his audience. He is not lying but he is highlighting things like he has had a balanced budget again, glazing over the fact the future could look dismal.

"Spending is again held in line, at $33.8 billion, $2.3 billion less in discretionary spending than in Fiscal Year 2008. I am not talking about spending adjusted for inflation – I am saying that in nominal dollars, New Jersey has not increased spending over where we were in Fiscal Year 2008."

He also sets his agenda of how he wants to head to the future. 

"Today, I am embracing the Roadmap and also endorsing the entirety of the Commission's proposed plan, a series of reform proposals that will fundamentally change the pension and benefit systems so that there is fairness."

He also makes it clear he is aiming for the future and wants to help make NJ even stronger but does not do quite enough to show that. He does not reflect enough on the past to draw the tone to the now.

"That is my pledge to you today and if you are willing to stand up and work with me toward a better tomorrow, I will work with you."

Unfortunately for Christie he does not use enough evidence to support his claims. Even though he has been known as the do it all man, this may not be enough to help save the economy.  His language looks to the future without really showing. 

Chris Christie: A Tweeting Machine

The creation of social media has been huge for politicians. The opportunity to expand an audience in an easy and free way is always great. Chris Christie is a politician who is really good at some formats of social media, and not so great in others.  Christie's strongest form of social media is Twitter. For the younger demo's this is perfect.

Christie has been known to have many good, meaning full tweets that ultimately allow him to connect with people. Instead of just pushing out "Vote for me" he pushes out meaningful info such as school closings that people actually would want to know and would want the Governor to know about. 

With 7,000 tweets he is relatively active, with 506k followers, he has a decent following but would surly love to get that number up even higher. Christie also links to his Instagram that is also quite good and allows for multiple platforms of sharing.

Christie isn't nearly as strong on his Insta game but who really is? With 9,943 followers he is not reaching the massive audiences that many would hope, but he does show personal photos as well as good interaction shots.

Facebook is the classic favorite of most, but not Christie.

Christie does not do a great job with FB, mostly only sharing links and the occasional post, but by no means a flood of information. The positive is that he is on the three big platforms.

Website....he has not. Christie has the classic "Office of the Gov" webpage but does not have his own website which is team needs to get on soon to be able to attract people to learn more about him. This is quite surprising in this day and age.

There are good videos on Youtube of him being quite candid on Jimmy Fallon and him showing off his personality but the more recent video is of him falling out of a chair

Chris Christie On The Issues

Chris Christie isn’t as hot of a name as it was in 2012. Christie has been recently pegged as an angry fat man who is a liar and a cheat. This often happens when there is a scandal about a major bridge that is quintessential to peoples every day routines. Not every thing is negative about Christie though.  Many view him as a strong leader who gets things done. Also that he is not afraid to back down and can handle the issues.

The latter if the points made above is what he needs to show. When hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey, he was there, and not only was he there; he was in the total thick of things helping in the rebuilding effort and in the emotional aspects.  These are the qualities that need to be shouted from the rooftops. He needs to be portrayed by his marketing team as a strong man who can handle the issues and really works for and with the people.  This should be blasted on twitter with fun and unique videos of him showing efforts in rebuilding efforts and just everyday things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOCC0RAR3Tg

Chris Christie’s biggest strength is going to be his political resume of getting things passed and ultimately put into affect.  This will be a very good selling point after a President who has been heavily scrutinized as not getting much done and being unable to work with republicans in senate.

The biggest weakness he holds is Bridgegate. Regardless if he was cleared or not, it is going to loom over his head as it is often hard to imagine the man who runs the state doesn’t know that something major like a bridge is shut down and it may be his fault. It is going to be a blemish on his career until the day he dies but there will be ways to put it in the past a bit if he plays his cards right.

The biggest opportunity for Christie is there is no real clear-cut best Republican candidate. You can argue Bush, Paul or someone else but none really stick out from the rest. This will allow for his personality to shine and to build support around the emotional energetic big man.

The biggest threat that he faces is a turn on him by the media. All he needs is one slip up to be the goat on the new CNN update that portrays him in an ugly light due to is often brash words and demeanor. He likes to yell which can often be taken as a bad thing.

One of the big issues that Christie will confront is the idea of Gay Marriage, which he is strongly against. It appears that he may be open to the idea of civil unions but believes that marriage is a special, sacred bond between a man and a woman. Another topic he will push is his stance his unwavering view on abortion and that it is only in extreme cases okay to kill an unborn child. Christie is running on his hard hitting conservative values that are sure to win over a few undecided voters.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/bridgegate/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOCC0RAR3Tg

http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Governor/New_Jersey/Chris_Christie/Views/Gay_Marriage/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/01/24/chris-christie-tells-conservatives-his-blunt-style-stances-shouldnt-turn-them-off-if-he-enters-presidential-race/

Who Is Chris Christie?

Who is Chris Christie? Christopher James Christie is the Republican Governor of his home state of New Jersey. Christie was born in Newark on September 6th of 1962. Christie has been in office since 2010 when he took over for Jon Corzine. Christie comes from humble beginnings with his father being a public accountant and having been a typical kid playing baseball in high school and enjoying politics.

Christie attended the University of Delaware, Newark for POLS before attending Seton Hall University for Law. Christie finished his program before ultimately joining law firm of Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci where he practiced Law. After his time with the firm, he volunteered for the George H.W, re-election campaign in 1992 before deciding to run for public office. Christie spent time as a freeholder and lobbyist before President Bush appointed him U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

In 2009 Christie decided to run to be governor where he ultimately won the Republican nomination by receiving 55% of the vote. He took on the incumbent Corzine where he also won by a margin of 48.5% to 44.9%.  He was seen in 2012 as a possible candidate to run for the republican nomination for presidency but decided against it. This upcoming election he is viewed as having strong chance of running.

Christie is known to be a fiery man with a passion for arguing. One of the issues many have with Christie is his weight which is seen as a health concern. Christie had lap-band surgery in 2014 which many viewed as a precursor to a possible presidential run.

As a republican running a rathe liberal state, Christie has had a fierce resume of being able to still work to get things done. With a socially conservative mindset he still has received notice for being able to move legislature and win over his constituents. This is considered to be his claim to fame and ultimately a very strong selling point with his push for a possible presidency as a man who can work with both sides and get legislature moved along. Another strong point is him being a people person who works for the people. When New Jersey was hit by Hurricane Sandy, Christie was one of the first ones out there working to save his state and return it to normality. This point is very marketable to the American people.

One of his downfalls as governor and as a possible presidential candidate is the "Bridgegate" scandal. As four of the lanes on the George Washington bridge were shut down and many people were affected, their were reports that Christie had direct knowledge of the situation and that it was politically motivated as retaliation for the Fort Lee Mayor not backing him. Christie was cleared of any knowledge of the situation in a report but was looked at as a blemish on his record for gearing up to be President.

Christie is a hot headed, passionate American who really appears to be a man of the people. His run for the presidency will be contingent on his ability to work passed the issues of scandal and his ability to show people of his professionalism.

Sources:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/christopher_j_christie/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/17/us/chris-christie-fast-facts
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/26/nyregion/new-jersey-gop-and-legal-elite-differ-on-us-attorney.html
http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-official-general-election-gov-lt-gov-tallies-120109.pdf
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/lap-band-surgery-helped-chris-christie-article-1.1951266
http://www.biography.com/people/chris-christie-20648789#future-prospects
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/7/chris-christie-not-connected-to-bridgegate-lane-cl/?page=all