Sunday, January 12, 2014

Governor Christie and the Highway Flap

As I continue to read about the controversy involving New Jersey governor Chris Christie and lane closures from Fort Lee onto the George Washington Bridge, I have become suspicious that this is an attack on Christie from the Republican right, rather than a substantive legal problem or a challenge from the left.

Many conservative Republicans were upset with Christie's comments following Hurricane Sandy, his cooperative stance with the Obama administration during hurricane recovery, and his refusal to use the catastrophe to score cheap political points with the far right. I think this continuing brew-ha-ha is more about political payback and the internal war within the Republican Party and much less about anything else - which would be an interesting twist - Christie operatives try to squeeze the Fort Lee mayor for not endorsing Christie, only to get squeezed themselves as operatives from the far right kick the story from one news cycle to the next.