Dec 26^th

Today we look at Governor Chris Christie’s rebirth in the polls. The Governor had lost ground with the conservatives because he had the temerity, and the horrible political judgment, to hug and (gasp!) shake hands with President Obama when the President came to New Jersey to assess the storm damage from super storm Sandy. Christie insisted that he had simply shown the President the courtesy he deserved and that, regarding the help offered to New Jersey, Christie said of Obama, “He’s kept every promise that he’s made.” Greta Van Susteren of Fox news, in an apparent attempt to help Christie salvage his conservative creds, claimed that after looking carefully at the pictures, “They didn’t look like hugs to me.”

Of course that was way back in 2012 before Christie had put his Presidential campaign fully into gear. Now Christie is well above water thanks largely to a life raft provided by New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, The Union-Leader. This newspaper has endorsed Christie for President. That endorsement amounts to a resurrection of Christie’s campaign and his Presidential hopes. Of course this paper’s record of endorsements is not exactly enviable: In 2012 it endorsed Newt Gingrich, in 2008 John McCain and in 2000 Steve Forbes. Only one of them got the Republican nomination and he lost the election.

Then there is the fact that Christie’s tenure as New Jersey’s Governor is hardly without blemish. We can leave out the bridgegate scandal in which several lanes of a bridge were closed down presumably to punish a politician who refused to endorse him. Christie denies any responsibility and no one has proved anything but that isn’t going away. In a recent poll 47 percent of New Jersey residents disapprove of his job performance while 39 percent approve of it. New Jersey is one of only three states where the poverty rates have increased; in 2007 8.6 percent were below the poverty level; in 2013 that jumped to 11.4 percent. Fully half of N.J. residents would leave the state if they could; he has cut tax rebates for senior citizens; the state has had eight credit downgrades and now has the second lowest bond rating of any state in the union… and Christie gets the endorsement of the Manchester’s Union-Leader. What were they thinking?

During the Republican debate Christie referred to Obama as “a feckless weakling.” Christie obviously wants to undo those hugs he gave President Obama and reestablish himself as being really, really nasty toward the President. I had heard the word “feckless” before but while I was sure it wasn’t complimentary I wasn’t sure just what it meant; presumably if you are feckless you lack feck. Feck derives from effeck, which is Scottish; the modern word would be effect. To be feckless then is to be without effect. It is fascinating that when the President could help the citizens of New Jersey, and consequently Governor Christie, he was quite adequately feck but now that Christie is better served by nastiness the President is feckless. Who is surprised?