Paul aides dismiss Christie attacks

Chris Christie has latched on to Rand Paul like a laser-guided missile, homing in on the Kentucky senator’s foreign policy views in an effort to paint him as naive and weak in the face of America’s enemies.

The newest barrage came on Monday when the New Jersey governor, in an interview with MSNBC, said that Paul should be held accountable if terrorists attacked the United States.


“We’re going to look back on this, and he should be in front of hearings in front of Congress if there’s another attack,” Christie said. “Not the director of the FBI or the CIA.”

Christie attacks Paul so often that it’s become a noticeable oddity on the campaign trail, beginning well before Christie’s official launch event last week.

It’s also a safe bet for Christie as he makes a hard campaign push in New Hampshire, GOP operatives in the state say.

“It’s a freebie,” said former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen. “I mean, how many voters are out there saying ‘am I with Rand Paul’ or ‘am I with Chris Christie?’”

Christie, Cullen explained, is trying to win over a pool of voters who wouldn’t be voting for Paul anyway but also attract undecided GOP voters, most of whom have hawkish views on foreign policy.

“Christie wants to write off that 20 percent and appeal to that other 80 percent,” Cullen said.

Paul’s campaign declined to comment publicly, but several Paul aides said Christie is making a play for the mainstream GOP establishment and hawkish donors.

“He’s a governor and he really wants to run on this national security mantle,” one Paul campaign aide said. “I think it’s tough to get that experience as a governor. It’s about who he’s alienating and not alienating. He can still live in this neocon space without alienating too many people. It’s the typical sort of political pile-on.”

Christie’s campaign said his comments were simply a continuation of long-standing disagreements with Paul on national security, but Paul supporters see political calculation.

“My belief is that Chris Christie is desperately trying to find anything to get his name ID and print ID up based upon what we saw were his most recent poll numbers,” said New Hampshire state Sen. Andy Sanborn, who’s backing Paul.

“I think that so many of Christie’s values are no different than others of the establishment Republicans,” Sanborn continued. “For Christie to criticize Jeb Bush or Lindsey Graham is essentially to criticize himself. So if you’re going to say there’s a difference of value set, you can’t be screaming at the mirror all day long.”

A top New Hampshire GOP operative who declined to speak on the record was even more blunt in an email.

“He is punching up to get news. His poll numbers are in the toilet and the best way to get noticed is to attack,” the operative said. “Since we pull from a different base of support, it is a safe hit in a multicandidate field. It also allows him to say, ‘I have actually had to use the PATRIOT Act’, and for a governor without any foreign policy credibility it is all he has.”

“And yes, doesn’t hurt with the donors,” the operative added.