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Chris Christie's Future With The GOP

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The fate of Chris Christie in the shadow of “Bridgegate.” Top GOP strategists and political reporters join us.

Governor Chris Christie talks to a reporter following a visit to Fort Lee Borough Hall Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in Fort Lee, N.J. to apologize to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich about the governor's staff allegedly closing lanes to the George Washington Bridge last September. (AP)
Governor Chris Christie talks to a reporter following a visit to Fort Lee Borough Hall Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in Fort Lee, N.J. to apologize to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich about the governor's staff allegedly closing lanes to the George Washington Bridge last September. (AP)

New Jersey’s big governor Chris Christie looked a little smaller at the podium yesterday, sounded a little chastened delivering his state of the state speech in the shadow of what we now know as “Bridgegate.”  The bold politician who many saw on a roll toward the Republican presidential nomination was a little back on his heels.  Will that last?  Is he done?  There’s a real split in the GOP over the Christie style – talk big but act bipartisan.  This hour On Point:  Bridgegate bully, or still the great mainstream hope for the GOP?  We’re looking at Chris Christie.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Matt Katz, WNYC / New Jersey Public Radio reporter. Former political reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. (@MattKatz00)

McKay Coppins, senior writer for BuzzFeed. (@McKayCoppins)

Keith Appell, senior vice president at CRC Public Relations, longtime G.O.P. political strategist. (@KeithCRC)

Steve Deace, host of the nationally-syndicated Steve Deace Show, based in Iowa. (@SteveDeaceShow)

From Tom's Reading List

Bergen Record: GWB probe targets Christie's office; renewal of subpoena power expected — "The George Washington Bridge lane-closure investigation could reach into Governor Christie’s office as early as Monday when a new round of subpoenas is expected to land on the desks of key members of Christie’s inner circle, a Democratic legislator leading the probe said on Saturday. Assemblyman John Wisniewski said he plans to issue subpoenas demanding documents from the governor’s former deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and spokesman Michael Drewniak, along with other aides whose names surfaced last week in documents related to the lane closures in early September."

NPR:  Beyond The Bridge, Christie Faces Questions About Sandy Funds — "There's good news and bad news in the poll. A third of New Jerseyans think that Christie himself was involved in the decision to close the toll lanes, which caused the traffic jam - it's only a third. But two-thirds do not accept the governor's timeline about when he found out about the political retribution involved in this traffic scandal. And so there's some mixed numbers here. It's a great for the governor but it certainly could be worse."

BuzzFeed: Why Conservatives Aren’t Rushing To Chris Christie’s Defense -- "Christie has been at odds with his party’s right wing ever since the final days of the 2012 campaign, when many on the right believe he abandoned his efforts to elect Mitt Romney in pursuit of his own image as a champion of bipartisanship — embracing President Obama, often literally, in a series of widely publicized photos and interviews in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. He went on to stake out decidedly centrist positions on a number of issues during his reelection campaign, and when he won in a landslide, he lectured the rest of the GOP about why they should follow his lead."

This program aired on January 15, 2014.

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