New Jersey Republican Mayor Chris Christie took a harsh swipe at Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky last week, declaring Paul's criticism of the National Security Administration as "dangerous". Appearing on a panel with other Republican governors, Christie said:

This strain of libertarianism that's going through parties right now and making big headlines I think is a very dangerous thought.

Asked if he was referring to Rand Paul, Christie responded, "You can name any number of people and he's one of them."

Christie's remarks were part of a strategy for his possible presidential run in 2016. He is trying to write off fears about NSA snooping as "libertarian", and drive a wedge between neoconservatives, who are hawkish on foreign policy, and Paul. Christie wants to portray himself as further to the right on foreign policy than Paul, since many of Christie's other positions are relatively liberal.

However, it is not just libertarians who oppose the surveillance. Christians afraid of the government turning on them oppose the surveillance. The socially conservative news site WorldNetDaily and pundit Glenn Beck loudly oppose the surveillance. Republican congressman Justin Amash of Michigan, who is leading the congressional effort to curtail NSA surveillance, had no problem with the US invading Afghanistan and going after bin Laden in Pakistan. Christie is sneakily trying to confuse genuine objections to libertarian isolationism with libertarian views about government surveillance, hoping Republicans will write Paul off as libertarian on the former, too.

Rand Paul is not as libertarian as his father Ron. In May, he told an evangelical gathering in Cedar Rapids, Iowa:

I'm not advocating everyone go out and run around with no clothes on and smoke pot. I'm not a libertarian. I'm a libertarian Republican. I'm a constitutional conservative.

He also describes himself as a "crunchy con". Paul has said that he believes we may need to keep many of our military bases abroad, which is hardly a libertarian position. He also appears to be fairly conservative on social issues, including abortion, gay marriage and pot legalization.

Christie is a big government Republican, whereas Paul is a small government Republican, the darling of the Tea Party. Many believe that Republicans are losing on social issues, especially gay marriage, and that Christie's liberal views on social issues make him more electable in a presidential general election. However, much of the conservative base will not bother to show up to vote in the general election if they perceive their candidate as too liberal, as happened in the 2008 election with John McCain.

Christie started out as somewhat of a conservative governor. But over the past year, he has shifted to the left. He cozied up to President Barack Obama, lavishing praise upon him more than once. When Mitt Romney was running for president, Christie reportedly refused to make public appearances with him towards the end of the campaign, yet appeared publicly with Obama, praising him for his efforts on Hurricane Katrina.

Let's not forget how Christie strongly criticized House Speaker John Boehner (an Ohio Republican) for his efforts handling Hurricane Katrina. Christie supports gun control and attacked the National Rifle Association for an ad they ran that mentioned Obama's children. He believes global warming is real. In May, Christie announced that he was supporting an expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. Due to this progressive move to the left, he was not asked to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2013.

While Christie has a high 74% approval rating in his blue state, it's arguably more evidence that he is really a Democrat. The New York Times ranked Christie as the least conservative governor of the nation's 30 Republican governors. In contrast, Paul is rated the third most conservative GOP Senator. Paul has a 100% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union.

Although Paul is very conservative, he is not the stereotypical kind of conservative who might have less broad appeal in a presidential general election. His slightly libertarian leanings and libertarian father have made him quite popular with younger voters and could cross over to bring in a few Democrats. Unlike Christie, Paul's cross-appeal is advocating for lesser government, not more.

Attacking the libertarians in the GOP as Christie has done will not help the Republican party or Christie's election chances. The Reagan revolution came about because Reagan was able, with the help of the late William F Buckley Jr and his National Review magazine, to bring together a coalition of libertarians, religious conservatives and fiscal conservatives. Paul, who is outspoken about his Christian faith, is one of a few Republicans who could rebuild that coalition.