Pick up the latest Newsweek, and you’ll see the cover headline “Has Chris Christie Blown It?” Turn to the story itself, and you’ll read a headline posing another question: “Has Chris Christie Passed His Sell-By Date?”
So what did Christie do to deserve the negative headlines? After reading the four-page feature, I’m still not sure. The questions seem to focus on Christie’s chances for selection as Mitt Romney’s running mate, a position Christie indicates he is not seeking.
Otherwise, the article offers an evenhanded — perhaps even slightly favorable — assessment of Christie’s record as New Jersey governor.
Christie’s public confrontations with his critics made him a YouTube star (one confrontation with a teacher has drawn more than a million views), but what made him an important conservative figure was his ability to reframe the debate about the size and cost of government. In Christie’s construct, the issue isn’t about government services and benefits to the public—the pro-government side usually wins the argument on those terms—but about a government workforce that costs more than the taxpayer can afford. Christie’s “fairness” question isn’t who should pay how much in taxes, but whether it’s fair that public-sector workers have greater benefits, salaries, and job security than many private-sector taxpayers, who are footing most of the bill.
Christie’s gift—and the reason he is mentioned daily as a potential Romney running mate—is his ability to argue complex issues in such simple and commonsensical terms that listeners don’t mind, or even notice, when he’s stacking the deck. A classic Christie staple in town-hall meetings up and down New Jersey is his ongoing effort to reform the state’s sick-pay policies. Current law allows public workers to accumulate unused sick pay, which they can cash in upon retirement. “They call them ‘boat checks,’” Christie says. “Now, the reason they call them boat checks? It is the check they use to buy their boat when they retire—literally.” He tells the story of the town of Parsippany, where four police officers retired at one time, and were owed a collective $900,000 in unused sick pay. The municipality didn’t have the money, and had to float a bond in order to make the payment. Christie wants to end sick-pay accumulation. “If you’re sick, take your sick day,” he says. “If you don’t take your sick day, know what your reward is? You weren’t sick—that was the reward.” The crowds whoop in approval at the punchline.
