New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s big re-election victory last year was heralded by Texas Republicans.
A lot of Texans welcomed it. A lot didn’t.
One of those Texans who didn’t much care for Christie’s victory apparently was fellow GOP governor, Rick Perry.
Imagine that. My hunch is that Christie shouldn’t take it too personally. Perry doesn’t like a lot of politicians, particularly those who might steal his thunder.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/07/politics/christie-perry-2016/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter
A lot has happened, of course, since Christie’s victory. His brand has been damaged by that bridge lane-closing controversy that’s getting bigger and more complicated every day.
Still, Perry and Christie are rivals for a possible GOP presidential nomination battle in 2016. Both are considered possible candidates. They’re both big hitters in the Republican Governors Association, at least for now. Perry is stepping down from his office next January to “pursue other interests,” such as exploring whether to run for president again.
Perry’s comments after Christie’s big win have been quite instructive. “He was a successful governor in New Jersey,” Perry told ABC’s “This Week.” “Now does that transcend to the country? We’ll see in later years and months to come. We’re all different states. Is a conservative in New Jersey a conservative in the rest of the country?”
Christie’s brand of conservatism surely doesn’t much look like it does here in Texas.
As CNN.com reported: “In Perry-world, Christie is seen as pompous and disrespectful, both to his fellow governors and the sense of collegial decorum that has ruled the governors association for years. To Christie and his allies on the committee, Perry is regarded as unserious, past his prime and too conservative for the national stage.”
I would add that the “pompous and disrespectful” label also could be hung on Perry as well, given his recent job-poaching forays into other states that didn’t go down well with his fellow governors.
Two big egos may be set to clash at some point as the next presidential campaign gets going. The boom will be heard all across the nation.