At a forum in Manhattan, the former President, not seen that much outside Texas these days, attended, spoke, and introduced the morning’s featured speaker, Gov. Chris Christie.
“So Chris Christie has caught the attention of a lot of people, including Texans,” said George W. Bush. “We see your enormous personality, your robust defense of freedom, your belief in the individual.”
Christie told the story he often tells, of taking a state with massive fiscal problems and stabilizing it through toughness and compromise.
“If you can do this in New Jersey, you can do it anywhere, most importantly in in Washington, D.C.,” said Christie.
He waded into the national debate by addressing the conference theme, achieving 4 percent annual growth,which to every speaker here means cutting taxes. Four percent is about double the current rate of growth.
Bush explained he’s tried to stay out of the limelight and not undermine the current President.
Christie struck a theme of the Mitt Romney campaign.
“I’ve never seen a less optimistic time in this country …. we are turning into a paternalistic entitlement.”
Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron was at the conference.
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