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Mea culpa. My above post went too far. Christie, I don't think, actually "bashed" right wingers. He's too accomplished a politician to do that. His profession to be "conservative" while acting more as a "centrist" makes him appear to "conservatives" to be soft on principles. He appears to talk "right" but slide "left" when the dust settles. And that is what the "conservative base" sees as a sort of slap in the face, and what makes that base suspicious of his bona fides as a leader. But if he can't convince that base, and if it distrusts him too much, he might, despite his reputed popularity, have a tough time winning the general election for President.
And his willingness to work with the left would probably lead us further down that road, just more slowly. If the Dems were actually willing to work with "conservatives" there might also be a slow down in the direction we're going, But their success in rapidly "transforming" America is built, not on compromise, but on the opposite.
So it appears that the unwillingness to "compromise," while talking it, is the means to success. That the Repubs try to be agreeable appears to make them weak, so they get rolled over without fear of retribution. Harry Reid boldly used the "nuclear option" to bar the ability of the minority to filibuster court nominees, so Obama can freely fill vacancies at record speed with the type of judges who will help further the progressive agenda. And what do the Repubs do? They promise to restore the filibuster power when they win. Brilliant. Instead of using the power to ram through their type of judges, they'll go back to having them denied. And we go further down the road.
So Christie may weather the storm. If he does, and if it makes him stronger and an even stronger candidate by beating his attackers, will he act as tough as he talks, or will he talk and slide?
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