TRENTON — Eager to tell the world about the biggest feat of his political career, Gov. Chris Christie took to the airwaves today only hours after state lawmakers approved a historic plan to cut public worker benefits. The nationally televised victory lap began on NBC’s "Today" show, with the host, Matt Lauer, hailing Christie’s overhaul of New Jersey’s pension...
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie (l) and Senate President Stephen Sweeney in this June photo. Christie and Sweeney worked together on the pension and benefits overhaul bill, and today Christie appeared on T.V. to tout his accomplishment.TRENTON — Eager to tell the world about the biggest feat of his political career, Gov. Chris Christie took to the airwaves today only hours after state lawmakers approved a historic plan to cut public worker benefits.
The nationally televised victory lap began on NBC’s "Today" show, with the host, Matt Lauer, hailing Christie’s overhaul of New Jersey’s pension and health benefits system. The changes are expected to save more than $100 billion in the next 30 years by raising costs for public workers.
The governor will get even more air time tomorrow when he appears on "Meet the Press" on NBC. And in case followers of news about New Jersey or its Republican governor miss that, Christie also released a new YouTube video — shot like a Hollywood trailer for a summer blockbuster — touting his fiscal credentials.
"This is a governor who’s staked his reputation on cutting public spending and going after state public unions," said Julian Zelizer, a historian at Princeton University. "This initially looks like a success, and he was able to do it without the commotion in states like Wisconsin."
Christie insists he won’t run against President Obama next year, despite droves of Republicans urging him on. But that hasn’t stopped him from casting himself as an antidote to Washington’s dysfunction.
Republicans and a third of Democratic lawmakers came together to pass New Jersey’s overhaul of pensions and benefits for more than 500,000 public workers and retirees. It was backed by the top two Democrats, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex).
"We got into the ring ourselves," Christie said on "Today," taking a dig at Obama for sending Vice President Joe Biden to negotiate with recalcitrant Republicans on the debt ceiling. "We battled it out. We came to a compromise. We convinced our colleagues and we did it."
Ben Dworkin, a political science professor at Rider University, said that because of Christie’s national ambitions, "perhaps not in 2012 but perhaps in 2016, this is exactly the kind of image you want to build."
"I think even his opponents will give the governor credit for being politically deft and strategic," he said.
Keeping that momentum going for four years can be a daunting challenge. As Zelizer put it, the national spotlight is a double-edged sword.
"Any mistake, any bad news will be shown and will be reported on a national level," he said, citing a media feeding frenzy after Christie took a state helicopter to his son’s baseball game in late May. "When you get that kind of attention you can’t remain under the radar," he said.
Previous coverage:
• N.J. Assembly passes landmark employee benefits overhaul
• Protestors create spectacle at N.J. Statehouse throughout pension, benefits overhaul vote
• NJ unions rally in Trenton, Assembly votes on pension and health benefit overhaul - live coverage