Should we give Christie a second look?

A person was quizzing me the other day to find out what I think of various presidential candidates. When she asked me if I like Chris Christie, I immediately said, "No!" When she asked me why, I realized that my mind had gone back to his warm embrace of Obama as they walked on the beach in the aftermath of the hurricane that hit New Jersey. Not waiting for me to answer, she blurted out, "He did work closely with Obama to get help for hurricane survivors, but I can understand that he just wanted to help his people."

She had a point! I promised her I would give Christie a second look. In that spirit I came across this article in Red State by cantenucci04:

I know most conservatives hate Christie’s guts, but as this campaign goes on I’m starting to like him more. I never really hated him to begin with. So I’m just curious, why do my fellow conservatives hate him so much. Give reasons other than the “hug”, which wasn’t really a hug. I’m aware of his record and some of the things he’s done as governor of NJ that aren’t the most conservative, but I wanna hear from others why they would never vote for him.

Personally, I cut him some slack because he can’t just do whatever he wants since he has both houses controlled by democrats and has to compromise at least a little if he ever wanted to get anything in his own agenda passed. In that regard he has something in common with Reagan, who as governor of California had to work with a democrat legislature and did things like expand Medicaid and enact strict environment laws.

I also think Christie would destroy Hillary in a debate, he’s already proven he’s a great debater and has a commanding stage presence. He has the necessary governing experience to know how to get things done too. He might not be as conservative as some of the other candidates, but they haven’t had to work with people who oppose them every step of the way. They haven’t been tested. Outsiders like Trump and Fiorina can and do talk a good game, but their past statements and positions tell a different story. They’ve been all over the map on many different issues, and now that they’re running for the GOP nomination, they’re telling conservatives what they wanna hear.

Read more here.