Many of the stories Christie told were parlayed word for word from his frequent town hall addresses
Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the Reagan Library in California Tuesday night.TRENTON — Facing greater national scrutiny than ever by national conservatives, Governor Christie drew attention Tuesday night by peppering his centerpiece speech in California with trademarks of his Jersey guy act.
New Jersey residents might have found the speech familiar: Many of the stories he told were parlayed word for word from his frequent town hall addresses.
But to the crop of West Coasters in the auditorium, Christie's simplified "Jersey" style, alternating blunt talk and humor, sounded like a new voice in politics.
First it was the tough talk and swagger: Loosening up after the formal introduction at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where he praised Reagan's stand against labor unions in 1981, he described working with state Democrats to balance the state budget and reform public-worker benefits.
"To be clear, it doesn't mean there isn't argument and acrimony," he said. "There are serious disagreements, sometimes expressed loudly — you know, Jersey style."
Taking questions, he pointed to a woman who transplanted to California from Middlesex County. Hearing that her Italian mother was a fan of his, he shot back: "If I make you proud to be from New Jersey, what are you doing in California? Let's go!"
The governor offered to fly her back to the Garden State.
And on the most important question of the day, he dodged a straight answer on his presidential ambitions by contrasting his East Orange upbringing. "I'm just a kid from New Jersey — and I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have the opportunity that I have to be the governor of my state," he said.
Ruth and Dennis Moore, both 65, couldn't decide which of his lines they liked most.
"I like it when he just snaps, 'None of your business,' " Ruth, a retired Defense Department staffer, said to Dennis as they left the library hall, past a bronze statue of Reagan as president and framed photos of him in his earlier movie-star days.
"Or when he just says, 'No!,' " Dennis added.
"Chris Christie is such a clear, interesting speaker," Ruth went on.
And if that contrasted with the style of the current president, Barack Obama, she said, "I hope people see it."
As one of many crowd members eager to see Christie take on Obama in 2012, she said his tone was more than just window dressing.
"To us, the contrast between the president and this governor is very significant. It's like when we went from [Jimmy] Carter to Reagan," she said. "We want to make that shift again."
RISE FROM OBSCURITY
Christie's tone may come branded as that of a lifelong New Jersey public servant, but locals from his home state say they cannot help viewing him as a recent presence on the state's political stage.
Farryn Melton, a procurement chief executive living now in Ventura County, Calif., grew up in North and Central Jersey.
"I actually lived for a time in Mendham," she said as Christie's speech concluded. "And now I turn around, and this governor is known for living in Mendham.
"He wasn't on my radar back then, which makes sense," she said.
Christie made little political impact in his time as a Morris County freeholder, but rose to prominence when he was appointed U.S. attorney in 2001 by former President George W. Bush.
"But it's certainly funny now to hear him becoming the voice of the state," Melton continued. "So well-known for where he's from, when that's where I lived."
As for how Christie's New Jersey squares with Melton's recollection of the state, she said, "It sounds like there's been this sea change. I like to hear how he's been changing things, shaking things up."
GREATEST HITS
Even Christie sensed the way the prestigious evening had evolved into a greatest hits of his Jersey anecdotes.
Regaling the room with his tale of how firefighters heckled him in Wildwood after he had advocated the reforms that meant they pay more for their pensions, a member of the audience interrupted him.
Quoting from Christie's rebuke of vacationers who resisted evacuating the Jersey Shore as Hurricane Irene approached in late August — a line made nationally famous through a 30-second YouTube clip — the man shouted, "Tell them to 'Get the hell off the beach!' "
"No!" the governor jabbed back. "Don't skip ahead to the next story!"
By Juliet Fletcher/Statehouse Bureau
E-mail: fletcher@northjersey.com