What Ponnuru is really saying, of course, is that Christie is a fake social conservatives. Sure, he’s against abortion. He’s never had one, and never will. Gay marriage? Ditto. You gotta problem widdat?
If you followed Christie’s rap during the campaign, he kept talking, and talking, and talking, how much he just loves, loves, loves working with Democrats! Just fucking loves it! Can’t get enough of it!
So how is that supposed to go down with Tea Party conservatives, whose entire raison d'être is to put the kibosh on all this “working together/compromise” stuff. Say Obama wants to raise your taxes 10%, while the Republicans want to raise them 0%. What’s Christie going to do? Raise them 5%? And that’s a win?
It’s a bit rich that Ponnuru himself, who once labeled us Democrats the “Party of Death,” is so hot to hit the compromise trail. Maybe he’s just tired of losing.
Afterwords
Christie talks the Republican talk on social issues, but walks the Democrats’ walk, and the folks on the right wing who really keep score on these issues know it. And even bigger problem for Christie is immigration, an issue where he’s “openly” advocated a “path to citizenship,” aka amnesty. The big guy is going to find out that “common sense” on issues like immigration and gun control, not to mention Muslim judges spells “sudden death” in the Republican primaries. Mitt Romney was able to win in 2012 because 1) he’d run before, and knew what he’d be in for, and 2) he faced a stunningly flawed field. It’s true that governors have the advantage in presidential primaries, but Christie will be facing Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio, all of whom are smart and ambitious, and none of whom has been married three times.
