In his trademark blunt style, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today breezed through an onstage interview with conservative talk-radio host Laura Ingraham, drawing cheers from a sometimes skeptical crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Asked specifically about his low standing as a prospective Republican presidential candidate in the latest polls, and about the fundraising prowess of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Christie drew laughs when he shot back: “Is the election next week? I don’t know.”
“I’ll take my chances on me. I’ve done pretty well so far.” -@GovChristie at #CPAC2015
Christie noted that people once doubted his ability to win the 2009 race for governor and his 2013 re-election, when he wound up increasing his standing with Hispanics, African-Americans and women.
“I’m not worried about what polls say 21 months before we elect a president of the United States,” he said. “I’ll take my chances on me. I’ve done pretty well so far.”
Christie’s appearance at CPAC is seen as an important hurdle for him, since it is the nation’s largest annual gathering of conservatives. The largely friendly reception, if nothing else, was a tribute to his plain-speaking, self-confident schtick—and multiple broadsides at The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Bush and Christie both face skepticism from conservatives who consider aspects of their records and positions as too liberal.
Christie declined to comment when Ingraham summarized Bush’s past characterization of Hispanic immigrants as more hard-working and entrepreneurial than the typical American. But he did say he would fight to bring back “an economic atmosphere” that will attract the best workers from around the world:
“The hard-working middle class of this country is the backbone of this society, and that’s what we’ve got to be focused on. … I can look people in the eye and connect with them,” Christie said.
“What we need to do is start fighting for those who want to lift themselves up,” Christie added—but not by raising the minimum wage. Americans, he said, “don’t sit around their kitchen tables” saying that will make their children’s aspirations reality.
Middle-class voters, Christie said, also will respond to his advancing of “school choice” in New Jersey and his multiple vetoes of income tax increases and the use of taxpayer funds for Planned Parenthood abortion clinics.
Christie went so far as to compare himself with President Ronald Reagan in the sense that voters know where he stands.
“It’s all, in the end, about standing up for what you believe in,” Christie said. “Sometimes more than anything else those special interests hate the truth.”
