K-12 Tax & Spending Climate: The Answer Is No

Jason Zengerle

His battle with the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), over a proposed pay freeze and an increase in employee contributions to health benefits, has been particularly epic. "I came to Trenton ... and it's like coming to a new schoolyard," he says. "I looked around, and there were a bunch of people on the ground, all bloody and moaning, all beat up, and there was one person on the schoolyard standing ... When you see that one person standing up, that's the bully. And in New Jersey, that's the New Jersey teachers union." He has accused teachers of "ripping off" the state and treating their pupils like "drug mules" after some were sent home tasked with asking their parents how they would vote on the school budget. And the demonizing has worked. A November poll put Christie's in-state approval rating at 51 percent--30 points higher than the NJEA's.

Less than a year into his tenure, Christie is no longer just a popular governor; he has become a national Republican star. His focus on fiscal issues and his reluctance to wade into the culture wars--during his gubernatorial campaign, he declined Palin's offer to stump for him--have endeared him to members of the GOP's sane wing. "The breakthrough he's scoring in New Jersey is hugely promising," says David Frum, a conservative writer who fears that the Republican Party is being swallowed by the tea party. At the same time, Christie's combativeness has made him a popular figure with the tea party in a way that someone like Indiana governor Mitch Daniels--who's fought some of the same fiscal battles in his state but with the mien of an accountant--can only dream of. More than anything, Christie fills the longing, currently felt in all corners of the GOP (and beyond), for a stern taskmaster. "People just want to be treated like adults," Christie says. "They just want to be told the truth. They know we're in tough times, and they're willing to sacrifice. But they want shared sacrifice."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 23, 2010 1:01 AM
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