By David Cruz
Correspondent
Jeff Bell was the first one on line to greet the governor at the Morristown Diner this morning and stayed as close as he could, trying to not be overshadowed by the Chris Christie whirlwind. Down by at least a dozen points in most polls, Bell is probably lucky to be getting any attention since the governor famously said he doesn’t waste time on lost causes. Still, the governor was talking as if Bell was close enough to pull off an upset in a few weeks.
“He is running a very disciplined, active campaign and he’s going to continue to do that over the next 14 days, so I’m looking forward to voting for him,” said Christie this morning. “I told him that when he ran the last time, I couldn’t. I was only 16 when he ran the last time.”
It was 1982, in fact, when Bell last ran for Senate, and he’s been criticized by his opponent for espousing ideas that date back to that era, specifically his go-to campaign issue, a return to the gold standard. On that, the governor was not so quick to take Bell’s side.
“I haven’t given any deep thought to it,” said the governor. “I’m listening to Jeff and learning and I can tell you this much. In New Jersey it’s not something I have to think of every day. That’s why I’m not running for the U.S. Senate and Jeff is.”
Christie has been all around the country raising millions for the national governors’ association but, in New Jersey, the national party has been virtually silent in Jersey, despite some suggestions that incumbent, Democrat Cory Booker, is vulnerable.
“I’ve received no support from the national party,” said Bell. “I could go into all my theories as to why that is, but it’s a great contrast to when I ran before. I’ve been closer in the polls to Mr. Booker than I ever was to Bill Bradley and yet, the national party knew that this was an important race that they should contribute to an insurgent campaign.”
As diner stops go, this was a low-key affair, without much campaign signage — unless you count an antique from 1982. Despite Christie’s positive comments about the Bell campaign, there has been some criticism among New Jersey Republicans that Bell has made it hard to get close to him — with his insistence on leading with the gold standard issue and last week’s comments about single mom’s depending on the Democratic Party for handouts. But Bell was happy to have New Jersey’s biggest Republican with him today.
“He has gone the extra mile in a year that has been very challenging for him,” said Bell of the governor. “It’s been very challenging in a lot of different ways for him and yet he has surmounted those challenges and is coming out of this — regardless of the outcome in this race or any of the other governor’s races he’s working on — he’s come out of it stronger and much more respected than when he started out.”
The one thing that Chris Christie does guarantee is a lot of press coverage. For Jeff Bell, being surrounded by a scrum of reporters is a welcome break from the norm.