Romney allies remain resentful of Christie’s embrace of Obama on Superstorm Sandy. Romneyworld buzzes over Christie

Rom-denfreude (noun) — The pleasure Mitt Romney loyalists are taking in the struggles of Chris Christie.

The condition is prevalent, stemming from a range of perceived Christie slights towards Romney during the 2012 campaign, which several Romney loyalists ticked off quickly — and with still-evident bitterness.


There was the New Jersey governor’s barring Romney from raising money in the Garden State, his unwillingness to answer vice presidential vetting questions and his highly autobiographical convention keynote speech. Most of all, though, Romney allies remain resentful of Christie’s embrace of President Barack Obama as the two worked together on Superstorm Sandy relief in the waning days of the campaign, which Romney backers believe boosted Obama’s bipartisan bona fides and cost Romney valuable swing votes.

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Several former Romney donors and staff told POLITICO that their alumni network has been buzzing over revelations that Christie’s staff was involved in lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that caused massive traffic jams, and were allegedly politically motivated. Some view it as a vindication of Romney’s decision not to tap Christie as his running mate, while others have merely watched in amusement.

The sniping is not insignificant. Christie is not well-liked among tea party activists and leaders, where he is seen as a big-government moderate. So, in order to build a coalition that could give him a chance at the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, he’ll most likely need strong support from Republican establishment types, like those who formed the core of Romney’s formidable operation. And as the party’s last presidential nominee, his alumni network remains influential in the GOP professional and donor classes.

Frank VanderSloot, one of Romney’s national finance chairman, said he found it “peculiar” that Christie declared he “ could care less about” presidential politics in the week before Election Day, when he was dealing with the fallout from Sandy.

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“I could understand him saying ‘right now, this is more important to me than that,’ but that’s not what he said,” VanderSloot said. “That wouldn’t cause me not to vote for him, of course. But this other deal would,” he said of the bridge scandal. “It suggests that he made some really bad choices as to some people that he appointed into positions of responsibility, at the very least. I think it’s really bad news.”

Even those inclined to give Christie the benefit of the doubt concede the scandal hits a nerve for Romney backers.

“I suppose it would be a little understandable that some people would have feelings about this,” said real estate developer Harlan Crow, who hosted Romney for a fundraiser at his Dallas estate in 2012. “But I believe most would grasp the larger picture and examine the question from the point of view of the candidate most able to win. It seems to me that, in that context, it would be best to put the Christie/Obama/Sandy episode into the past.”

Few are willing to publicly discuss their Christie schadenfreude, for fear of being seen as bad party soldiers or of kicking the governor while he’s down. Besides, Christie could still be the 2016 GOP standard-bearer — making vocal criticism risky for any Republican hoping to play a role in 2016.

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One operative who helped Romney during both of his presidential campaigns said that, even though Christie has denied any knowledge of his aides’ involvement in the lane closures, his staff’s involvement raises questions about his judgment, which dovetail with concerns flagged by Romney’s vice presidential vetters.

“There is a concern that where there is smoke there is fire,” the operative said. “And this isn’t just one plume of smoke, this is several.”

A former Romney staffer called Christie’s handling of the scandal part of a pattern of behavior by the governor. “There’s a level of arrogance that people I talk to find really just unacceptable,” the ex-staffer said, pointing to Christie’s chronic tardiness for high-dollar fundraisers he did with Romney. “Those are little things, but when you have these very important people waiting, it sends a signal.”

A Christie consultant declined to comment for this story.

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The governor has worked to make inroads with Romney’s network, and particularly his robust finance operation, which remains intact. In June, Christie spoke at a retreat of major Romney donors in Park City, Utah, hosted by Romney himself and sponsored by a private equity firm run by one of Romney’s sons and the finance director for his campaign, Spencer Zwick. While Christie had a private sit-down with Romney and got a standing ovation from his supporters, not everyone was ready to forgive and forget. One Romney bundler told The New York Times “there’s a large group of people in that room who are N.O.P.E. on Chris Christie — not one penny ever.”

Months later, Christie met with Zwick, who told POLITICO this week that Christie “absolutely has a shot” at winning over those Romney backers still sore about the 2012 campaign.

“Gov. Christie has already won the support of many major financial backers from the Romney campaign,” Zwick said.

Ron Kaufman, a longtime top Romney adviser, asserted that the majority of Romney loyalists have set aside their grudges “mostly because of the way that Gov. Romney has treated it. He has a good forgettary. He doesn’t hold a grudge.”

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Romney’s deputy campaign manager, Katie Packer Gage, said intra-party divisions don’t help. “We’re all Republicans, and it doesn’t do any of us any good to be kind of gleeful when anybody else is going through a tough time,” she said, later adding, “I think anyone who is gleeful about this doesn’t really understand the ebb and flow of this business.”

Christie has also antagonized some tea partiers and grass-roots conservatives with his support for immigration reform and his clashes with movement favorite Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. They too are taking glee in his struggles.

The“Republican Party establishment’s chosen champion for 2016 is in the cross hairs of the liberal media,” influential Iowa talk radio host Steve Deace said. “You can’t take out the Democrats until you take out the Republican establishment.”

He added, “I’ve never been happier to watch the liberal news media tear down a Republican because he’s one of their own.”