In undercard debate, Christie saves all his shots for Clinton
At the risk of seeing his campaign slipping away, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey used an appearance in the second-tier Republican debate on Tuesday to seize center stage and project himself as above intraparty conflict, while inviting the GOP to view him as their warrior against Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Christie was demoted to the early evening forum because of poor polling numbers, but he came to life on the less crowded stage in Milwaukee and had many moments in the hourlong four-candidate debate that seem likely to leave a lasting impression.
He hijacked efforts by his three rivals to criticize him or one another, steering the debate into who would be the strongest opponent against Clinton if she is the Democratic nominee.
“It’s interesting. I complimented Bobby,” he said after one exchange between him and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. “Imagine how much time he’d want if I actually criticized him.”
When Jindal criticized Christie for “liberal” policies in New Jersey, he simply said he had no interest in contrasting himself with the Louisiana governor.
“I want to talk about what’s going to happen to this country if we have another four years of Barack Obama’s policies,” Christie said, adding his success in a blue state qualified him to run strongly nationally.
“Wait a minute, records matter,” Jindal interjected. He criticized Christie for expanding food stamps and Medicaid in his state.
Again, Christie refused to engage.
“Who’s going to be able to beat Hillary Clinton and keep their eye on the ball,” he said.
At another point, Christie interrupted an internecine spat between Jindal and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas over who had cut government more as a governor to attack Clinton.
“The bottom line is Hillary Clinton is coming for your wallet, everyone,” Christie said. “Don’t worry about Huckabee and Jindal. Worry about her.”
At times, it was hard for the others on stage to stand out. Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who casts himself as a “blue-collar conservative,” declared himself the only candidate who supported the Export-Import Bank, a symbol to some of crony capitalism.
Since August when Republicans began debating, only Carly Fiorina has made a strong enough impression to leap upward enough in polls to claim a place on the main stage.
It was unclear whether Christie might be able to follow in her tracks, given that the audience for the so-called undercard debate was expected to be far smaller than the main event with eight candidates in prime time.
The five-week wait before the next GOP debate will allow impressions formed on Tuesday night to harden, a risk for Christie, who was once seen as a top contender for the nomination.