New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie officially launched his White House bid Tuesday promising a campaign of “big ideas and hard truths” to fix a broken government and restore respect to America.
After years of flirting with the national stage, New Jersey’s straight-talk governor made it official, promising a presidential campaign free from “spin or pandering” that would tell it like it is, “even if it makes you cringe.”
“When I stand up on a stage like this, there is one thing you will know for sure,” Christie, surrounded by family and friends, said. “I mean what I say and I say what I mean and that’s what America needs today.”
In the gymnasium of Livingston High School, home of the Livingston Lancers where he graduated in 1980, and was class president every year he attended, Christie vowed to bring the same can-do spirit to corners of the country like Oklahoma and Mississippi that he brought Egg Harbor and Seaside Heights.
That starts, he said with restoring respect abroad and cooperation at home.
“We need to have to the courage to say enough is enough,” Christie told the cheering crowd. “We must tell each other the truth about the problems we have and the difficulty of the decisions. Truth and hard decisions today will lead to growth and opportunity tomorrow for every American in this country.
“Here are the truths. Government is not working for us anymore, and that’s fault of bickering leaders in Washington, DC who no longer listen to us.”
The deaf ear, he said, starts with President Obama.
“President Obama lives in his own world, not in our world,” Christie said. “After seven years of a weak and feckless foreign policy run by Barack Obama, we better not turn it over to his second mate Hillary Clinton.”
The Republican Christie, 52, didn’t lay all the blame at the feet of Democrats.
“Both parties have failed our country, both parties have,” Christie said. “If Washington and Jefferson had believed compromise was a dirty word we’d still be under the crown of England.”
But Christie has a few hurdles to jump before he can gain any traction.
His frequent absences from the state and a several scandals including backlash over bridge-gate — the Fort Lee bridge lane closure scandal — have helped to drag his approval rating down to an all-time low in June of just 30 percent in the Garden State.
Protesters were at the kickoff event to voice their disapproval.
Many of them were wearing red shirts that represent Essex County schools, including Livingston High School, where teachers say Christie lied to them about continuing to fund their pensions.
“A lot of us are teachers here in Livingston and we are really upset because we taught him and we feel he lied and betrayed us,” said Barbara Whitehall, 65, of Whippany, who taught in Livingston for 25 years.
“He’s not only lied about our pensions. He has vilified teachers and turned the private sector against teachers and made us the scapegoats.”
Christie is betting that New Hampshire, the first primary voting state, could galvanize his campaign. He will be spending in the Granite State over the next four days.
Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory