TRENTON — For all his insistence that he isn’t interested in living in downtown Washington anytime soon, Gov. Chris Christie has sure been talking about the place a lot lately. Take Monday, for instance. "They’re ignoring the problems of Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and even though they can be fixed they’re, ‘too hard,’ " Christie told a...
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Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a town hall meeting in Cherry Hill in May. Christie hasn't been shy lately about weighing in on national topics.TRENTON — For all his insistence that he isn’t interested in living in downtown Washington anytime soon, Gov. Chris Christie has sure been talking about the place a lot lately.
Take Monday, for instance.
"They’re ignoring the problems of Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and even though they can be fixed they’re, ‘too hard,’ " Christie told a gathering in Union as he merrily mocked federal politicians.
Then Tuesday, a polished ad by a group of Christie donors materialized — part of a $1.5 million campaign — that will be shown on television stations in New York and Philadelphia.
"Runaway spending, record debt, gridlock government," it begins. "Washington is backwards. But Chris Christie, with bipartisan support, is taking New Jersey another direction."
Since the governor scored his biggest victory in June, which is when the Democratic-controlled Legislature passed his overhaul of public employee benefits, his remarks about Washington — what it is and is not doing right — have poured forth.
"This is part of the long and arduous process of him flirting with the national Republican Party," said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. "There is no denying — despite his repeated denial — that he is courting, with the comparisons of himself and President Obama, that is he inserting himself in the national agenda."
Yet despite the increased comparisons between the restraint of New Jersey and runaway spending in Washington, Christie has vigorously insisted that he isn’t weighing a run for the White House in 2012.
That hasn’t stopped political observers from suggesting, or even fantasizing about it.
The governor’s most recent comparisons between himself and Washington could be a sign that he has looked over the Republican field — from Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas to Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts — and continued to question whether any of them can unseat President Obama, said Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University.
"Maybe it’s time for him to reconsider his earlier decision to get in," Baker said.
But Steve Some, a Republican lobbyist in New Jersey, said Christie stubborn presence in the presidential conversation is not about him as a candidate but as a contrast to what many see as an indecisive Obama.
"They’re diametrically opposite," Some said. "Republicans across the country are looking at Chris Christie and they like what they see. At the end of the day, I don’t believe the governor is prepared to run for president right now."
The new television ad begins with an image of the Capitol building in Washington and concludes by highlighting Christie’s record as governor of New Jersey, including his budget victories and education initiatives.
"I think this is clearly a spot with national ambitions and overtones," said Brad Lawrence, a Democratic consultant and co-founder of Message & Media in New Brunswick. "I don’t think there is much doubt about that."
The ad will begin showing up on TV stations this week on Philadelphia and New York stations as part of a $1.5 million campaign.
It is being paid for by a nonprofit group called the Committee for Our Children’s Future, known as a 501(c)4 because of its designation by the IRS. It is not held to the same disclosure standards as a campaign or political action committee.
Christie said emphatically at a news conference Tuesday he was not raising funds for the organization, whose business it was to divulge or conceal the names of the donors.
And while the ads will be seen in states that any presidential contender would be happy to see on his or her side of the ledger, Baker said not to read too much into them.
"It may be that it has no significance beyond the state that it’s just sort of reminding New Jersey voters that the governor has made some tough decisions and taken some courageous stands," Baker said. "It may be nothing."