Candidate Christie is headed back to New Hampshire. His four-day, family tell-it-like-it-is tour fueled by what GOP strategists are calling a solid performance at last night’s Red Tie National Security Debate. Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron spoke to NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams about the highlights.
Aron: It was a solid performance. It was a good performance. It was not a breakthrough performance but he doesn’t really need a breakthrough performance as he rises steadily, particularly in New Hampshire. We’re going to play some of the good moments from that debate. One of his good moments came right after Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio got into it over whose position on domestic surveillance makes more sense. The whole thing was a little bit arcane about what the law actually says and what was actually changed in June. Dana Bash said to Chris Christie you know those guys both want to protect America, what’s wrong with that?
“Listen, I want to to talk to the audience at at home for a second. If your eyes are glazed over like mine, this is what it’s like to be on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I mean, endless debates about how many angels on the head of a pin from people who have never had to make a consequential decision in the executive position. The fact is, for seven years I had to make these decisions after 9/11. Make a decision about how to proceed forward with an investigation or how to pull back. Whether to use certain actionable intelligence, or not to. And yet they continue to debate about this bill and that bill in the subcommittee and whatnot. Nobody in America cares about that. What they care about is are we going to have a president who’s actually know what they’re doing who can make these decisions.”
Williams: The fear factor seemed to be a running theme. How important was it that Chris Christie was repeatedly indicated that he’s the guy to keep America safe?
Aron: I think what almost all of them did, they were all trying to project toughness, except Rand Paul who is a little bit of an isolationist, but he was trying to protect intelligence. In fact, we’re going to hear him accuse Christie of trying to start World War III. This was probably Christie’s best moment and I should point out that it came after Carly Fiorina reiterated her stance that she would not directly talk to Vladimir Putin.
Wolf Blitzer asked, “If the U.S. imposed a no-fly zone over Syria and a Russian plane encroached, envaded that no-fly zone, would you be prepared to shoot down that Russian plane and risk war with Russia?
“Not only would I be prepared to do it, I would do it. A no-fly zone is a no-fly zone, Wolf, that is what it means,” Christie said. “Maybe because I’m from New Jersey I have this kind of plain language hang-up. I would not talk to Vladimir Putin. In fact, I would talk to Vladimir Putin a lot. I’d say to him, ‘Listen, Mr. President, there’s a no-fly zone in Syria. You fly in, it applies to you.’ And yes, we would shoot down the planes of Russian pilots if in fact they were stupid enough to think that this president was the same feckless, weakling that the president we have in the Oval Office is right now.”
Senator Paul replied, “Well, I think if you’re in favor of World War III you have your candidate. You know, here’s the thing, my goodness what we want in a leader is someone with judgement. Not someone who is so reckless as to stand on the stage and say yes, I’m jumping up and down. I’m going to shoot down Russian planes. It’s having that kind of judgement. Who you would appoint and how you’re going to conduct affairs that is incredibly important. I mean, I think when we think about the judgement like someone who might want World War III, we might think about someone who might shut down a bridge because they don’t like their friends, they want to get a Democrat.”
Williams: Christie didn’t flinch or deflect in a debate pockmarked by interpersonal sniping and Trump bashing. Christie seemed to stay above the fray, how did that play?
Aron: He aimed all his thunder at Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. The only time he criticized anyone on the stage was that reference to Cruz and Rubio having a very arcane debate about angels on the head of a pin. Wolf Blitzer asked him at one point about the refugee situation in this country and said you’d even keep out orphans and Christie said, ‘Look, the FBI Director Jim Comey says he can’t vet everybody properly, and by the way it was widows and orphans. Under Obama this whole government doesn’t work.
“It’s so dysfunctional under Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. It’s so ineffective. It’s so ineffectual that the American people say we don’t trust them to do anything anymore, so I’m not going to let Syrian refugees, any Syrian refugees, into this country. And it was widows and orphans, by the way, and we now know from watching the San Bernardino attack that women can commit heinous, heinous acts against humanity just the same as men can do it. So I don’t back away from that position for a minute. When the FBI director tells me that he can vet those people, then we’ll consider it and not a moment before. It’s your safety and security that’s most important to me,” Christie said.
Williams: Who had a good night, who had a bad night, where does everybody stand?
Aron: I thought Paul had a good night. Bush and Trump got into their own little mini-debate. Rubio and Cruz sort of dominated with their debate. But I thought everybody had a good night and I think Christie is still in this race. He could be the last governor standing.