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 We Must Not Let Symbols, Stunts, & Slogans Trump Science & Public Policy

Christie’s Kleenex Circuit, Faux “Town Halls”, and Flogging the Fleece

"On the beach" - Is this the image NJ wants to project?

“If I believe that me appearing in the ads is the best thing to increase Jersey tourism then I’ll appear in the ads,” Christie said Monday on a tour of Bradley Beach, where work crews began stacking discarded Christmas trees to help rebuild dunes.

After reading Charlie Stile’s column this morning, I couldn’t help myself with the photo.

Charlie Stile ran a superb column today, calling out Governor Christie’s You Tube stunts, his faux “town halls”, and related media and political self promotional demagoguery.

Stile laid it all out in full glory  – exactly what we have been saying here for a very long time (see: Christie Princeton Speech – A Dangerous Demagogue)

I urge you to read the whole thing – hit this link:  Christie’s videos blurring the boundaries of official and political

The only problem I have with the way this is written is that it makes it seem like Christie’s Sandy record is ALL positive – that there is no downside for the Governor.

That doesn’t leave much room for Democrats, who don’t even know who from their party will run against Christie this fall.

So their strategy, for the moment, is to wait. Maybe Sandy won’t still be dominating the public conversation in a few months, they figure, giving them room to raise other issues on which they think Christie might be vulnerable.

But if media, environmental groups, and the Democrats would only just do a little policy research, they would see that the Governor has enormous vulnerabilities.

As we’ve written:

1) the NJ Transit fiasco was not unique, but the tip of the iceberg – no one has written about that, other than this WNYC story;

Christie also got hammered in a superb national investigative piece by the Huffington Post, see: Hurricane Sandy Damage Amplified By Breakneck Development Of Coast 

2) Christie’s response to Sandy is in sharp contrast with NY Governor Cuomo’s – Christie is highly vulnerable if and when the focus shifts from emotion to policy.

But no one is writing or talking about substance and policy.

3) Christie’s approach to rebuild is sharply at odds with the science and President Obama’s Executive Order on Sandy Rebuild.

Again, no one has written about this.

Again, when the focus shifts from emotion to substance, Christie is highly vulnerable.

This explains why he’s working the Kleenex Circuit and Flogging the Fleece so hard.

But we must not let Symbols, Stunts, and Slogans trump science and public policy.