TRENTON, N.J. — Coyness is not part of Chris Christie’s repertoire, which does not stress subtlety, delicacy and intimation. New Jersey’s governor is more Mickey Spillane than Jane Austen and his persona, which sometimes is that of a bulldog who got up on the wrong side of the bed, is so popular he seems to be cruising toward re-election this November and does not deny that he might look beyond that.
His budget for 2013 calls for spending less than did the state’s 2008 budget. He has vetoed a tax on millionaires three times. He has scrapped, exuberantly, with public employee unions. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, 41,000 families are still homeless. Nevertheless, 61 percent of his constituents think the state is on the right track, compared to 27 percent who thought so when he entered office three years ago. His 74 percent job approval includes 56 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of independents. This in a state where only 29 percent view the Republican Party favorably. And New Jersey is one of just three states (with New York and Maryland) in which Barack Obama improved upon his 2008 margin of victory (18 points, up from 16).
When the U.S. House of Representatives pondered longer than he thought proper in considering the bill for aiding Sandy’s victims, Christie placed, in less than an hour, four unanswered late-evening calls to Speaker John Boehner, calls that were, Christie says mildly, “increasingly agitated.” At last, Christie did his best imitation of Vesuvius, denouncing Boehner by name. The approval-disapproval numbers for his eruption were 79-15, including 70-22 among Republicans. People may not like government but they enjoy one operatic governor.
Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican, accused Christie of a “tantrum.” Christie’s pugnacity emerges: “I want to see the next time a hurricane comes to Kentucky.” Such Sturm und Drang earned Christie an appearance on Time magazine’s cover — a photo making him look very like New Jersey’s Tony Soprano. Beneath the photo were two words — “The Boss.” Time told him the reference was to New Jersey’s Bruce Springsteen. Christie isn’t buying that, but neither does it bother him. “If my mother were alive,” he says, “she’d be hot. She’s the Sicilian.”