Because RINOs Always Travel in Herds: Chris Christie Will Endorse Mitt Romney

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Remember when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was supposed to be the feisty populist conservative alternative to Mitt Romney? So much for that ridiculous nonsense, eh?

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, just one week after definitively announcing he will not run for president in the 2012 race, plans to endorse Mitt Romney for the job Tuesday afternoon, Fox News has learned.
The event is set to take place in Hanover, N.H., the site of the Republican presidential debate being held Tuesday night. The endorsement will be made in advance of the debate.
Marking a fast turnaround for Romney, the endorsement comes one week to the day since Christie called a press conference in Trenton to end once and for all the speculation that he would make a late entrance into the race.

UPDATE: Bryan Preston at PJM:

So, is Christie pulling a Crist and making a major endorsement of a moderate candidate to help him fend off more conservative challengers? That’s what it looks like.

Three words, Bryan: Follow the money.

The GOP money people in New York — Georgette Mosbacher, et al. — were the ones urging Christie to run and, when he finally said “no” for the thousandth time, they all jumped on the Romney bandwagon. A big-money RINO-lanche for Romney is the only way to stop a certain surging candidate. IYKWIMAITYD.

UPDATE II: “Moderate GOP Governor’s Club,” Michelle Malkin says. Jon Huntsman was a member of that club. Ditto Mitch Daniels. Ditto Tim Pawlenty. The kind of GOP Establishment-approved folks that the big money boys find acceptable.

Now a Memeorandum thread.

UPDATE III: Thanks to commenter Joe for reminding me of this headline from last year:

N.J.’s Christie Backs Castle in Del. Senate Race

Yeah. That explains a lot, doesn’t it? Guess that means Herman Cain is this year’s Christine O’Donnell. Even if Cain gets the GOP nomination, the Establishment insiders would rather see Obama re-elected than to let an outsider win an election.

UPDATE IV: At a press conference in Hanover, N.H., just now, Romney called Christie “a real hero” and “my friend.” Christie said: “Mitt Romney’s the man we need to lead America and we need him now.”

First question at the press conference was about the Jeffress/Perry Mormons-are-a-cult issue. Christie referenced his own decision to appoint jihadi extremists to enforce sharia law a Muslim judge.

UPDATE V: David Freddoso’s headline at the Examiner:

Huge: Christie to endorse Romney

What’s with all the fat jokes, huh? Just because the hippo endorsed the RINO . . . See? Now you’ve got me started. But anyway, I was confused by this sentence in Freddose’s column:

Could the recent success of conservatives like Christie in the North, and the possible nomination of Romney, threaten the Republican Party’s reputation as a southern party?

Yeah. Unlike my fellow Atlanta native Herman Cain, whose nomination would only reinforce that whole “southern” thing, I suppose.

UPDATE VI: Duane Lester: “Christie continues to prove doubters right.”

The Lonely Conservative: “Herman Cain Says He’ll Go After Mitt Romney in GOP Debate.”

Linked by The Guy Who Named the Blogosphere — thanks!

UPDATE VII: Ed Morrissey:

The obvious conclusion is that Romney’s worried about an inability to move upward and the continued rise and fall of the Not-Romneys in the race. . . . By getting ahead of the news cycle with a big endorsement just before tonight’s debate, it could also relieve pressure on Romney to make news by attacking Herman Cain — or possibly hint that Romney wants a knockout punch badly enough to risk engaging the conservative base’s favorite of the moment.

So it appears that everybody’s expecting a Cain-vs.-Romney donnybrook tonight and Da Tech Guy, who is in New Hampshire for the debate, says, “in my opinion the story of the day is: ‘Can Herman Cain take a punch?’ ”


102 comments

  2. Wonder if they’re going to set odds for the Cain endorsement of Romney. I’m saying 12 weeks from today, after vanquishing Rick Perry, Cain will endorse his bestest friend in the whole world, Mitt Romney.

  3. Is anyone the least bit surprised by this?   Who did you expect Chris Christie to go for.  I mean, he stumped for Mike Castle. 

    I do not think Mitt Romney is a Republican In Name Only.  I think Mitt Romney is a “pragmatic” Republican like Christie and Perry are “pragmatic” Republicans.  And I mean “pragmatic” as a perjoritive.  But it is not quite RINO. 

  4. And Christie is going to go with the guy he thinks can win the nomination, so he is going Mitt.  And going with a Godfather explanation/analogy, Christie may look like Clemenza but he is acting like Tessio on this one. 

  5. I totally agree with Michelle’s moderate republican club.  Is there any surprise over this?  Absolutely Mitch Daniels and T-Paw were part of it.  But Mitch did not run.  T-Paw put everyone to sleep.  Of course Perry screwed up by actually revealing how moderate he really was.  Opps!  No impolite talk like that at the dinner table. 

    My prediction stands–Romney/Cain.  I am not thrilled about it–but I think they could beat Obama.  But frankly I do not see a lot of credible options beyond that (sorry Santorum/Cain is not happening).  Perry still has a long shot chance, but everything would have to break his way for that to happen.  If Cain does really well he could win the nomination, but I would not bet a lot of money on it (if you give me decent odds I might). 

  6. Did anyone expect anything else from Chris Christie?  One Northeast Republican governor endorsing another.

    What I’m wondering about is endorsement transitivity: will Ann Coulter’s support for Christie  be translated into support for Romney?  (I hope not.)

  7. I do not think the GOP money guys hate Cain (not like they hated Christine O’Donnell).  It is nothing personal, just business (sorry for another Godfather quote but he did run Godfathers!).  They do not trust that conservatism can win.   Cain is a potential Palin for Mitt.  He is black so he neutralizes Mormons are raaaaacists (sorry but the powers that be think that way), Cain also has stump strengths Mitt does not have and can be used to attack Obama.  I suppose Mitt could go with a guy will really good national defense credentials–but we will see. 

  10. To defeat Romney, Cain needs to articulate a deep understanding of what we’re up against. He cannot prevail over Romney primarily on the basis of being a competent outsider who “solves” problems versus an insider technocrat who solves problems (Romney). GOP primary voters who are not politically active will intuitively prefer a public-sector excutive to lead the government over a private-sector executive.   

    Today, a caller to the Rush Limbaugh Show chastised Rush for not promoting Romney. If I had to guess, this middle-aged lady grew up in the greater NYC megalopolis; is probably a former Reagan Democrat; and that she still believes it is the role of government to micromanage the economy. 

    Anyway, that caller was encouraged that both Cain and Romney understand the business world, but she prefers Romney because he supposedly understands international economics. She actually believes that Romney will “fix the global economy.”

    As his campaign is currently constructed, Cain will get killed among that lady’s constituency. He will also struggle gaining support from lower-information voters, who even now – on Oct. 11, 2011 – have never heard of Herman Cain! 

  11. She will go with it.    Maybe the deal is Romney/Christie.  Wouldn’t that be special. 

    I am looking for the candidate who directs effective fire against Obama.  I hope that candidate is Herman Cain.  If he wants to distinguish himself, go after Obama and let the rest of the kids fight among themselves. 

  12. You either have to start thinking about how you can move from where you are on Romney to endorsing him too. Or risk being forever tagged the conservative blog that twice-elected Barack Obama.

    You will get to make one demand of Mitt, and I’d suggest it be Herman Cain for Vice President. Now I’m not saying you have to throw in the towel today. Cain may still beat Romney, certainly he looks to be the only one left with any chance of doing that. But if Romney beats Cain and then gets his endorsement, and you then turn on Cain, Romney doesn’t have to give you your one demand.

    On the other hand, if Cain does beat Romney, he can’t beat Obama without the RINO vote. So better brush up on being nice to RINOs. Because Cain will move to the center if he wins the nomination.

    Or, you could go camping with OWS, I guess that’s your other option.

  15. I’m a lady that watched some establishment males not lifting a finger to  help Gov. Palin when she was a V.P. candidate.  Payback is a b*tch.

  17. We’re told that any generic Republican can beat Obama yet we are also told that only ONE who  can beat Obama is Romney because Romney is just moderate enough to attract Moderate voters who voted for Obama .

    I must question the logic of this illogical Establishment  argument.

    Moderates voted Obama into power, what indication is there that Moderates are the standard by which we should elect a President?

  18. You will get to make one demand of Mitt, and I’d suggest it be Herman Cain for Vice President.

    That worked so well in 2008.

    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

  19. Talk about being unable to let go of a fantasy . . . Christine O’Donnell PROVED herself to be the little con artist.  She played all the suckers in the Republican Party who just couldn’t say no to a cute chick, raised millions which she didn’t even spend, and is still living on you suckers’ money.

    So invoking her memory doesn’t exactly burnish your credentials, mmmkay?  It’s much like hyping gold when it was $1925, something you should hope to forget.

    It was pretty obvious Christie would endorse Romney if he endorsed anyone.  Who else would he endorse?  Even guys who just fell off the turnip truck could have called this one.

  20. If is difficult to direct fire when you are shooting yourself therefore how can Romney direct fire at Obama when he is Obama?

    A Ruling Class by any other name is still a Ruling Class.

  21. Do you really see any alternatives?  All I can hope is Cain makes no mistakes and keeps going.  That is it. 

  22. Charles, after the dust clears, us rubes always end up lining up for the GOP establishment candidate (although some rubes are now saying that enough is enough).

    It’s the “moderates” and/or establishment folks who pout and go on strike when their preferred candidates lose the primaries.

    Also, as much as we respect RSM here, I’m not sure this blog “elected Barack Obama” in 2008 and RSM sure as hell cannot save SCOAMF in 2012.   

  23. So if Romney loses it is not due to the fact that he is a RINO but due to the fact that he is not a Conservative?

    The Center voted Obama into power. 

     Why legitimize their failure?

  24. We have a lot of conservatives these days who seem intent on repeating 1964.  We nominated a pure conservative and ripped new ones in the moderate and liberal wings of the Party (which were even more substantial in those days) in doing it.  So they weren’t enthusiastic about our ticket, didn’t support Goldwater with money or time, and we got whipped in a landslide.

    Obama’s not capable of a landslide, but without party unity on our side he could pull out a squeaker – and that would be a disaster for the country.

    It’s time people realized it’s not helpful to the cause to label everyone who ever once disagrees with them a “RINO.’

    Conservatives can’t just demand a candidate.  We have to nominate one with actual votes.  And we need to understand that while 40% of America describe themselves as “conservative,” that doesn’t mean down-the-line with us on issues.  Same thing with the GOP.

    It’s never enough to cry out loud, “We are right!”  That’s more OWS style.  To win primaries and major party nominations, we have to persuade and convince those who DO NOT agree with us 100% – and insulting them constantly isn’t usually the best way to attempt that.

  25. I hope Romney’s Big Donor NE Republican friends are prepared to pony over a Billion dollars because this is how much is will cost them to buy a Romney White House victory  against the other Big Donor Billionaire guy.

    When you haven’t an inspired voter base then buying votes is expensive.

  28. Yes, that Stacy McCain certainly was a misogynist when he deserted Palin for the Old Boy’s Club and Bob Barr (Campaign Slogan:  “No girls or sane people allowed!”), which definitely makes him a RINO, doesn’t it?

    Did you have any more specifics in mind?  Any examples besides our host?

  30. I agree with you regarding the gratuituous RINO labelling and that voters referring to themselves as “conservative” can be misleading. At the same time, the old postwar liberal consensus (which the GOP ignored at its peril in 1964) is no longer sustainable.

  31. Talking elected political establishment….how could you even think anyone would think RS McCain is establishment.  Get real…and bugger off….

  32. Exactly. Christie’s endorsement will probably signal to Huntsman’s 1-percenters that they are now free to support Romney.  

  33. “Guess that means Herman Cain is this year’s Christine O’Donnell.”

    So very true.  Remind me again, just how badly did CO’D lose her election?  I think it was by 17%… during a republican wave election.

    Now that’s some impressive losing ability right there.

  34. Conservatives for Cthulhu never trusted that Yankee Republican Governor and are not surprised that a McClellan Republican stabbed conservatives in the chest at his earliest convenience.

    Conservatives for Cthulhu do not see the sense in supporting a candidate for the nomination and then for president knowing that immediately upon election we must oppose as anathema to conservative goals. That makes no sense from a moral, strategic or tactical point of view.

  35. All I’m seeing is a bunch of former and soon-to-be-former governors lining up for a lucrative job of Secretary or Czar of this or that in a potential Romney administration. It’s a tough economy, and they’ve submitted their resumes.

    Were there no Obama in the race, Romney would be the most liberal of the two candidates. With Obama in there, at least until Hillary stages a coup, Romney can run as being a true blue conservative. Very blue.

  37. It’s time Conservatives realized that the GOP is (ir)redeemable and stop wasting time and effort trying to save it’s soul.

  38. I agree.  It is insane. 

    Listen, Christine O’Donnell did not work out.  She was the pick of the Deleware GOP.  She lost for a number of reasons, some of them of her own doing and some do to downright hostility of the GOP establishment. 

    Does anyone remember Christie denouncing Mike Castle for not supporting O’Donnell in the general election?  I do not.  Apprently Mike Castle’s feelings got hurt.  Comity is only a one way street for these guys. 

    But they have so little faith in conservatism that they cannot believe Herman Cain can win?  Let’s trust the voters on this and let the primary process work.  Now I suspect Romney may walk away from this, but how about we see if he can earn it?  And give Cain the chance to do the same?  And Perry is not out of it yet.  Even Santorum deserves a fair shot at it. 

    And let the primary voters decide. 

  39. With tons of money, against two pathetic candidates in California, establishment darlings Whitman got blown out by J. Brown by 13-points and Fiorina got tossed aside by freakin’ Boxer by 6-points, respectively. Together, those two races were some impressive cash-burning operations.

    The difference is that I won’t conclude, based on those two examples, that establishment candidates are forever doooooomed!

  41. “Guess that means Herman Cain is this year’s Christine O’Donnell.”

    He should do a big media buy in Iowa for a verbatim copy of the “I am not a witch” ad, stat. No comment, just reproduce the ad. Maybe while wearing a Rick James style wig, with “Super Freak” playing in the background.

    No, I am not kidding.

  42. Stacy McCain was wrong to do that, but it was not directed against Palin but based on his hatred of cousin John.  You know the Scot Irish when they start feuding.   

    But I have a Maryland movie that fits this:  Avalon where the family splits apart when one brother cuts the turkey at Thanksgiving because the other brother is late.  They never spoke again after that.   

  44. Oh, come on!

    1. I vowed the day that Mitt quit at CPAC that I would vote Libertarian in 2008 (as I had in 1996), rather than vote for Crazy Cousin John.
    2. Bob Barr hatched his Libertarian Party campaign the next night at a cigar bar with my buddy Stephen Gordon.
    3. I wrote “How John McCain Lost” on Oct. 7.
    4. I covered Sarah Palin all the way down to Oct. 31.
    5. In keeping with my February vow, I voted for Bob Barr — in Maryland, a state that was never “in play,” and where Obama won by a landslide.
    6. When all was said and done, I explained to conservatives in my Election Night story, “You Did Not Lose.”

    All along, I’ve identified the GOP Establishment as the worst enemy of conservatism, and have abjured every silly invocation of “pragmatism,” by which the Establishment means, We’ll tell you who to vote for.

  45. Christine lost due to her own faults and betrayal of the GOP establishment.  But do you remember Christie attacking Mike Castle for not supporting her after she got the nomination?  I don’t either. 

    Christine O’Donnell was a very flawed candidate.  But she was a better person than Mike Castle.  I hate to give up a senate seat over that, but Castle was bad news. 

  47. This could be big. Really big.

    Hey, lay off the “big” jokes. Some of my best friends are not exactly “thin.” IYKWIMAITYD.

  50. But I don’t think Romney has a chance.  Obama & Co. are already trumpeting that Romney helped them write Obamacare.  How’s THAT gonna play?

    I never thought I’d say this.  But if Romney is the nominee, it shows that the “fix” is in, and it’s time to abandon the GOP.  Because it looks as though the Republican Party is determined to keep throwing garbage onto its base, and ordering us to like it.

    To hell with the GOP Establishment, the sissies and wimps like Boehner, McConnell and the rest of the spineless pansies who, after we gave them the 2010 landslide, gave us ignorant peasants the single-finger salute and told us to go home and shut up until our money and votes are needed in 2012.

    As long as we’re going to get Obama, anyway, we should just leave the GOP, found our own party, and let the chips fall where they may. 

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