Chris Christie has done it again. He gave President Obama a big verbal bear hug on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program on Monday. The governor was asked whether, six months later, he had any regrets about working with Obama after Superstorm Sandy, given that he has since been described as a “pariah” by members of the GOP. First, the governor simply said “No”, repeating it twice. Then he added:

“I’ve got a job to do. And nothing else crossed my mind… Presidential politics was not what was on my mind that day.”





After describing the progress New Jersey has made in recovering from the storm, as well as the foot-dragging process Congress went through before approving aid, Christie said:

“Listen, the President’s kept every promise that he made. And the fact is, that’s what I was saying at the time… I was asked how is the President doing and I said, He’s doing a good job… We saw suffering together and when you see that, you are going to either step up and be responsible, or you’re not, and we stepped up and were responsible together.”

The interview was a prelude to an announcement later in the day by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. In a joint appearance with Christie, the secretary announced federal approval of New Jersey’s rebuilding plans, using $1.8 billion in federal grants.

Think Christie’s going to get a pass from the Republican Party on his coziness with the administration? Hardly. The news outlets are all a-twitter over the possible repercussions over the governor’s statements. However, as pointed out on “Morning Joe”, Christie has a 67% approval rating in New Jersey. He’s facing re-election in November and, according to political analyst Larry Sabato, quoted in The Christian Science Monitor:

“Christie needs lots of Democratic voters to get reelected in November.”

Where his renewed embrace of Obama is supposedly going to get him into trouble is when and if he decides to run for President in 2016. Sabato doesn’t think Christie can get the Republican nomination regardless. He says:

“Christie is too moderate. It is not just what he said about Obama but a whole range of social issues. It just does not comport with the very conservative base of the Republican Party.”

Christie tried to draw a distinction himself–sort of–by clarifying on “Morning Joe” that:

“Everyone knows I have like a 95 percent level of disagreement with President Barack Obama on issues of principal and philosophy, but the fact of the matter is that he’s got a job to do. And, what people expect out of people they elect is for them to do their job.”

But it’s possible Christie has in mind something that the rest of the GOP chooses to ignore: the American people are sick of the extremes. Republicans have marginalized themselves so much, and excluded so many, that they cannot win a national election with just the votes of their conservative base. Americans increasingly want cooperation and compromise among their public officials. There is currently no better example of working well together than Chris Christie and President Obama. Not only does Christie need votes that come from outside the Republican Party to win New Jersey, he or any other GOP candidate will need them to win the country.

Or maybe Christie isn’t thinking about 2016. Is it possible that he’s just a decent, hardworking guy who appreciates those same qualities in the President because it makes his job as governor so much easier?

Here’s the video:

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