LAS VEGAS — Two of the nation’s highest-profile Republican governors called Saturday for more aggressive leadership on America’s challenges abroad, emphasizing their support for Israel as they courted powerful Jewish donors.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker also stoked speculation about their own presidential ambitions as they gave frustrated Republicans advice on how to reclaim the White House in 2016 after losing two straight elections.
The Republican speakers at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual spring gathering largely avoided criticizing President Barack Obama by name in remarks that were thick with rhetoric faulting Obama’s foreign policy while offering few specifics.
“We cannot have a world where our friends are unsure of whether we will be with them and our enemies are unsure of whether we will be against them,” Christie said. “In New Jersey, nobody has to wonder whether I’m for them or against them.”
Walker declared that the nation needs a “swift and decisive” foreign policy, while insisting that the GOP must find a presidential nominee from “outside Washington.”
The Republican governors, both considering presidential bids, appeared at Republican super donor Sheldon Adelson’s Venetian resort casino on Las Vegas’ famed strip, speaking inside an ornate ballroom two floors from where gamblers crowded around blackjack and roulette tables.
Two years before the official beginning of the next presidential contest, the competition for the GOP’s most influential donors is well underway.
But no single donor may be more powerful than Adelson, who is among the 10 richest people in the world. The casino magnate almost single-handedly bankrolled the group behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 2012 campaign. Now, he’s casting for a new presidential candidate on whom to shower his millions in campaign cash.
Adelson is known for his devotion to Israel, in addition to an aggressive American foreign policy.
Walker, who is not Jewish, noted that his son’s name, Matthew, is from the Hebrew word for “gift from God.” He later added that he decorates his residence with Christmas lights and a “menorah candle.”
Christie, a Catholic, said he was overwhelmed by displays of religious tolerance during a recent trip to Jerusalem.
“Sheldon, thanks for inviting me,” said Ohio Gov. John Kasich. “I don’t travel to these things much, but this was one that I thought was really, really important.”
