LOS ANGELES — True to his tough-guy persona, Gov. Chris Christie mixed it up today with a political naysayer, who heckled California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman at a political rally. Christie was concluding a town hall meeting with Whitman when an angry audience member criticized her for not taking questions. "What are you hiding?" shouted Ed Buck, in...
Chris Christie (center) goes off the stage to confront a heckler Ed Buck (right) who called GOP nominee for California governor Meg Whitman (left) "Arnold in a dress" during a town hall meeting in Hollywood, Calif.LOS ANGELES — True to his tough-guy persona, Gov. Chris Christie mixed it up today with a political naysayer, who heckled California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman at a political rally.
Christie was concluding a town hall meeting with Whitman when an angry audience member criticized her for not taking questions.
"What are you hiding?" shouted Ed Buck, in jeans and a light shirt in the front row of the 400-person event. "You’re looking like Arnold in a dress," he said in a reference to outgoing California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Before Whitman could respond, Christie stepped down from the stage and got in Buck’s face.
"Hey, listen. You know what. You want to yell, yell at me," Christie said, shutting down Buck as Christie’s bodyguards calmly but quickly approached the two men. "It’s people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you who are dividing this country. We’re here to bring this country together."
Talking to reporters after the event, Whitman said she figured Buck was planted in the audience by her opponents.
"It’s not surprising to me … I think that’s what we’ve come to expect," she said. "I think what’s really true is as Californians and Americans we need to restore some civil discourse."
Christie’s appearance on behalf of Whitman, a former eBay executive, put the New Jersey governor in the national spotlight as he transported his brand of Republican tough love into California’s hot governor’s race.
On the first leg of an 11-state political tour, Christie stumped for Whitman at the town hall-style meeting in Hollywood. Whitman also used some of the Jersey guy’s star power to raise money in her quest to beat one-time Democratic presidential candidate Jerry Brown.
Christie, who arrived on a chartered jet, told the party faithful that Whitman would be able to do for California what he says he has done for New Jersey: tame a state that some have written off as ungovernable.
Standing in front of huge banners saying "Take Back Sac" — for California capital Sacramento — Christie was alternately humorous and serious in saying Whitman shares the same agenda he brought to Trenton.
"Just happy to be in the neighborhood," Christie said, speaking to an audience of about 400. "I bring greetings from New Jersey, a place that should give you great hope."
Comparing Whitman’s opponent, Brown, to former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, Christie said her campaign could have the same ending.
"A year ago right now, every one of the all-knowing, all-seeing political pundits in America said Chris Christie has no chance to be the governor of New Jersey," he said. "What they didn’t count on — which is what they’re not counting on here in California either — is that people are a lot smarter than people give them credit for."
Mocking a recent comment by Brown about the political process fixing itself, Christie let loose.
"Are you going to trust the damn process?" he said to chuckles. "Send Jerry Brown and his process back home where he belongs."
Officials with Brown’s campaign and the California Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment about Christie’s visit.
Whitman said Christie’s governorship proves what a fiscally minded Republican can accomplish even in a state as heavily Democratic as New Jersey. Sitting alongside Christie in front of the enthusiastic audience, she said: "This is something that people often forget: Leadership matters. Leadership really, really matters."
In less than year in office, Christie has become a celebrity in Republican circles, applauded for his war against public-sector unions, moves to cut state spending and tough-talking public persona. Just this week, conservative personality Glenn Beck said on his radio show Christie should "get ready" to make a White House bid even as the governor says he is not ready.
Christie’s political tour, which will take him to key swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, has only increased speculation that he is preparing for a national run — either at the top of the ticket or as a vice presidential pick.
Christie’s tour continues today with a Los Angeles fundraiser for Whitman and three appearances in New Mexico with gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez. He is slated to go to Cincinnati next week for Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich.