Updates and Happenings

No worries, my loyal readers...I'm still here! It's been a heck of a couple of weeks since CPAC. Thankfully, I did not come down with #CPACPlague, but I did get sick after the Middlesex County (NJ) Ballot Convention; likely when I was in the crowd to meet Governor Christie. It took a while, but I'm past this and am back here to blog!

I also did a radio interview with my Georgia friend Greg Williams. We talked about CPAC, Christie and cultural differences between the North and South. Once the audio file becomes available, I will gladly post it here.

You can still find me on Save Jersey as well. My piece about New Jersey Reagan Day is pending.

Thank you all for sticking by me...I'm back!

The Chris Christie CPAC Snub That Wasn't

Today, my next piece for Save Jersey went live and it dealt with my governor.

Booker Bows Out

Another news story that got lost in the shuffle while I was in Mickey's playground: Newark Mayor Cory Booker has declined to challenge Governor Chris Christie in seeking the Democrat nomination for New Jersey Governor.

First Carter-Era Policy Coming to an End

Some good news to come out of New Jersey: gas rationing will be over, as of 6AM, Tuesday morning!

Chris Christie, The Election and New Jersey

As Barack Obama won nationally last night, New Jerseyans knew how things were going to go. Except for incumbent Republicans in the House of Representatives winning re-election, it was a whole lot of ugly for the Garden State. Some can trace the cause of this right to good old New Jersey.

Hurricane Katrina Sandy Strikes the Northeast

This is the first time I have been able to get online for a significant amount of time since Hurricane Katrina Sandy struck the northeast last Monday, and I would like to thank my readers for sticking by me and following along on Twitter in my blogging absence.

Chris Christie and New Jersey Attitude

After Ann Romney's quiet strength, we move to the in your face assertiveness of Chris Christie who gave the Keynote Address at the Republican National Convention.

RNC Kicks Off in Tampa

Well, the RNC did not listen to me, as they cancelled today's convention kickoff because they were deeply worried about the potential of flooding in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, areas outside of Downtown Tampa where many delegates are staying. If those areas flood, buses cannot get the delegates Downtown to the Tampa Bay Times Forum. It looks like Tampa missed the direct hit from Hurricane Isaac, and as of Tuesday, the show will go on!

Chris Christie's Double Standard "Jersey Shore" Moment

By now, we've all seen Chris Christie's Jersey Shore moment occur at Seaside Heights this week. In case you haven't here is the video.

More on Romney's Veep

Earlier this week, I wrote about some well-known Republicans who could become Mitt Romney's running mate. A lot of people were asking me why I left out a couple of names: Paul Ryan and Chris Christie. To make them happy, here is my analysis of these two Republicans.

Primary Day in New Jersey

Tonight, I had the pleasure of attending the Primary Night Party of New Jersey State Senator Joe Kyrillos, the picture above is from tonight and in no surprise,Kyrillos won the Republican Nomination to face Senator Robert Menendez.

Booker's Backtrack

In the years both have been in power, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker have been fostering a positive working relationship, which has even been spoofed. Last weekend, Booker made an appearance on Meet the Press and made comments that raised the eyebrows of many in both parties.

The Gov and the Mayor: A Rather Humorous Web Video

With Newark Mayor Cory Booker in the news lately and his popularity rising among Democrats, Governor Chris Christie, who actually has a pretty good relationship with the Newark Mayor, made the following video, spoofing his recent heroics and speculation about Christie:

Another Chris Christie YouTube Moment

He's baaaaaaaaaack!

Governor Chris Christie has another YouTube moment about the president and here you go:



Except for OWS and the TEA Party being of the same genesis and both parties deserving blame, I believe Christie hit the nail on the head with this one, calling out the president on his lack of leadership. We'll be seeing this go viral on an extreme level very, very soon!

Stepping Away

What had seemed inevitable, Sarah Palin decided against a run in 2012. This broke during Mark Levin's radio show on October 5. She was effective at jazzing the media, forcing them into a "will she or won't she" game, but in the end, Palin felt she could be most effective on the sidelines, as opposed to in an office. While I understand her reasoning, I am very disappointed that she stepped out, as unlike many in my party, I believe she would have been a formidable candidate as she is the most consistent Conservative out there and looking at recent history, not only do Conservatives win, but they win by a couple of touchdowns. Her endorsement will matter to Republicans and members of the TEA Party.


Being pushed by the majority of GOP donors, Chris Christie has once and for all, decided that he will not run in 2012. This was also predictable, as for a while, he had been against running and only re-examined the choice at the behest of these donors. Truth be told, he may not have won the primary, but in the end, he will politically benefit, as this further ensures his re-election as New Jersey Governor in 2013, something that may not have been cemented, had he run and been defeated.

Two Jersey Guys at a Crossroads

Who would have ever thought one could put Rex Ryan and Chris Christie in the same category. Well, I will! In following the news these past two years, I've discovered these two men are closely alike in many ways (some readers are thinking I am going to touch on physical resemblances, but I'm focusing on personality and leadership), and both are at a major crossroads.

Bill Parcells brought the Jets to respectability in the late 1990s and since Parcells departed, the subsequent coaches from Al Groh to Eric Mangini have been riding his legacy on the team and while they have made playoff appearances, they have not been consistent, have not appeared in any Super Bowls and had quarterbacks of varying successes lead the offense. When the Jets hired Rex Ryan and brought him to Jersey, he brought with him his brash talk, strong defensive play and gained many fans both in the Jets organization and among the fans of Jet Nation. All look at Ryan as the coach who can get the best out of his players and his young franchise quarterback in Mark Sanchez.

Sad to say, New Jersey has not had a great governor since Tom Kean back in the 1980s. Democrats in Jim Florio, Jim McGreevey, Dick Codey and Jon Corzine were seen as tax hikers, big government liberals, big spenders, part of the machine (in McGreevey's case), leader of the machine (in Codey's and Corzine's case) and corrupt (in McGreevey's and Corzine's case). Republicans in Whitman and DiFrancesco have not fared better. While Whitman attracted new businesses to New Jersey, she was a big spender and borrower and in his short leadership, DiFrancesco was also the same, as well as the fact that he had some ethical questions surrounding his past. When New Jersey voters elected Chris Christie, the charismatic and blunt-talking former US Attorney who convicted 130 corrupt politicians, they wanted things done in a different way.

In their respective leadership tenures, both Christie and Ryan have seen successes. Ryan has led the Jets to two consecutive years of respectable winning records and playoff appearances while getting the best out of his players. Christie has held the line on taxes, he has come out strong against public sector unions, he has tried to throw a lifeline to major cities like Atlantic City, and is actively working toward cutting spending in the state. Both Ryan and Christie have shown they are aggressive leaders, both Ryan and Christie say exactly what they are thinking and Ryan and Christie have become YouTube celebrities in their own right.

While they have the potential for great things, there is also the chance they could slip up. This season, Ryan has had his list of problems between the Inez Sainz incident, gaining the reputation of attracting and signing malcontents to play for the Jets, embarrassing losses to the Patriots and Dolphins that cost the Jets the AFC East, the foot-fetish thing (more a strange distraction than anything else), his alleged role in the Alosi incident and his potential to go overboard in his rhetoric. He also hasn't won "the big one" yet, as a head coach.

Christie also has incidents that have the potential to derail his administration between the Schundler Affair, less of a focus on the 6 figure/mid-level/non classroom administrators, (Remember, New Jersey has 614 local school districts with their own Boards of Education, as opposed to the county leadership structure every other state uses. Also, some of the larger districts have 2 Curriculum Supervisors per content area and average around 8-10 Assistant Superintendents) and criticisms relating to the December 2011 blizzard. Furthermore, unemployment in New Jersey is still high and Christie has many conservatives questioning his conservative credentials because he has not joined either the Virginia or Florida Health Care lawsuits making their way through the Federal Court System, as well as the fact that he has mocked some Conservatives or not endorsed them.

With those potential roadblocks, both Christie and Ryan can bring the jury to a decision in their favor by backing up their talk with action; a Super Bowl in Ryan's case and job creation, an embrace of Conservatism and proper education reform in Christie's case. They can also work to avoid future distractions similar to the ones that have dogged them in the past two years.

I think this is a fair blueprint for both leaders and as someone with a vested interest in Rex Ryan's and Chris Christie's leadership (as a Jets fan and resident of New Jersey, respectively), I wish them the best and much success in achieving positive leadership, leading to positive change in their respective organizations.

NOTE: Explicit language in some of the Rex Ryan clips.

The Trenton Thunder

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in the news again. Today, he announced more reforms in education, in the area of tenure and pay based on merit and not seniority. The reform also gives new requirements for elementary teacher testing in reading and math. It remains to be seen how this will progress, considering there is a Democrat Legislature with which he must contend, who will certainly be influenced by the NJEA leading up to the 2011 New Jersey Midterms. I was not expecting him to announce these reforms this early, but I give him credit for it and as I said earlier, he leads and governs confidently and acts as though he is a one-termer, something so seldom seen in politics.

I would like to offer the Governor some advice: In these reforms, make sure administrators' personnel decisions are based on the facts laid out in front of them; whether evaluations, student test scores or parental input, and not politics or a personal agenda. Despite the NJEA's (and AFT's) claims, I have observed many incidences how they do not consistently protect and defend their teachers against the dirty politics in education and it is my hope these new reforms do what the union refuses to do. I do believe these reforms have the potential to make sure good teachers are in the profession and the classroom, and the bad teachers are either retired or in another profession.

I will closely be watching how this plays out as I guarantee we'll be hearing the NJEA react to Christie very soon. Early predictions are this will not be a quick process, but again, I'll be watching closely.

Chris Christie's "Common Sense Porn"

Earlier this year, Glenn Beck used a phrase to describe New Jersey's Governor, Chris Christie: "Common Sense Porn." (In the clip, Beck is playing a clip of an exchange Governor Christie had with the Star-Ledger's Tom Moran)

Since becoming Governor in January of 2010, Governor Christie has shown himself to be a strong leader, not afraid to tell the truth and he basically governs like a one-term governor. This is rather refreshing as in New Jersey, we are going through many economic challenges and he is not afraid to cover them up or "make nice" of these problems (and to those who caused them) for political expediency. Furthermore, Governor Christie does not blame his predecessor to absolve himself of criticism for the state of the state. Instead, he is rolling up his sleeves and attempting to clean up these problems, despite hostile opponents including the Democrat legislature, the media and the public sector unions. Like Monica Crowley, I believe his actions show leadership!

The Governor is beginning to gain further attention outside of New Jersey as events this week have shown between confronting a heckler in California while on the stump for Meg Whitman, and his partnership with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Mayor Cory Booker, in the interest of the Newark Public Schools.

Governor Christie's leadership has inspired my development of Michael Buonocore in The Calling to Lead, as the two have a similar leadership style, specifically in the areas of speaking common sense and not backing down from a confrontation. Furthermore, their legislative agendas align in many places.

Additionally, I will, in the future, write more about Christie's specific legislative agenda, including my thoughts on his education agenda, but for now, I will include two recent You Tube clips showing some more, as Glenn Beck calls it, "Common Sense Porn."