Hey, if you were him, you’d be disgruntled too.
Earlier this month, disgraced New Jersey Governor Chris Christie chewed out the man now expected to succeed him as the Garden State’s CEO:
Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday gave a full-throttled attack against the person that polls show is the most likely to replace him, blasting Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Phil Murphy as a “joke,” a “fraud” and man who “bought” his party’s nomination.
The governor, speaking at a public event in Trenton, assailed Murphy for his recent pledge to spend no more than $13.8 million and take public matching funds in the general election…
Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and Democratic fundraiser who earned tens of millions before that as a Goldman Sachs banking executive, already poured more than $16 million of his personal fortune into his campaign.
But by saying plans to use public matching funds in the general election, his spending in the general election will be limited by law.
Christie, who used public matching funds for his 2009 run and in the general election in 2013, called it an empty promise.
“It’s a fraud. He’s a fraud,” Christie said.
Christie, calling someone a fraud? What is with Republicans and projection?
Christie is scared to death of the prospect of Murphy defeating his Lieutenant Governor, Kim Guadagno, on November 7–especially if Murphy wins by a large margin. A dominant Murphy performance on Election Day would represent a rejection of the Christie years–and Christie’s ego cannot abide by the idea that his tenure would be regarded as a complete failure.
It’s hard to believe there was a time when Christie was considered a strong GOP presidential contender. Even before Bridgegate, it was obvious that Christie was little more than a bullying, self-righteous loudmouth ill-suited to lead–and Republican White House contenders can only get away with that sort of thing if they’ve been reality-TV stars and pop-culture figures first.
It’s obvious that Christie’s angry because as soon as he leaves office, he’ll be forgotten, an asterisk in history. Some Republican Governors will have bad legacies–think Scott Walker in Wisconsin or Sam Brownback in Kansas–but at least they’ll be remembered for something they did during their tenures. What exactly did Christie accomplish during his two terms, besides exercising his mouth and little else?
I’ve previously noted Christie’s atrocious alliance with Charles and David Koch in the early 2010s, a partnership which was the apparent catalyst for Christie’s shameful decision to pull New Jersey out of the carbon-reducing Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative six years ago. If Murphy wins and rejoins the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative as promised, one wonders if he will deliver a speech denouncing the political machinations that led Christie to abandon the policy in the first place. Christie would certainly deserve whatever criticism he receives from Murphy for his short-sighted action.
Speaking of climate change, the New Jersey gubernatorial election will take place just a few days after the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. Remember the right-wing hissy fit over Christie’s interaction with President Obama in the aftermath of that storm? Right-wingers will also dismiss Christie from their memories once he’s gone (if they haven’t already). Christie will, in effect, leave a non-legacy.
Murphy’s progressive credentials have been questioned because he used to work for Goldman Sachs, but if he wins, he could quickly shut those critics up by aggressively pursuing a progressive policy agenda as Governor. If he’s even partially successful, he’ll have accomplished a heck of a lot more than Christie ever did.
