Team Mitt Ruled Out Christie As Running Mate

Posted by | November 2, 2013 04:30 | Filed under: Politics Top Stories


Jonathan Martin has taken notice of this particular passage from Mark Halperin and John Heileman’s forthcoming book Double Down:

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, another potential presidential candidate, is described as having been eliminated from vice-presidential contention by Mr. Romney because of unanswered questions about his background and health. […] Mr. Romney included the blunt-talking governor on his vice-presidential shortlist, crossed him off, reconsidered choosing him and then ultimately decided that he could not pick Mr. Christie. Mr. Romney made the decision not only because of the fund-raising restrictions Mr. Christie would face as the governor of New Jersey, but also because Mr. Christie did not offer the same amount of information to Mr. Romney’s team of vetters as the other potential vice-presidential picks.

According to a memo on Mr. Christie from the vetting team, it had unanswered questions on a defamation lawsuit against the governor from earlier in his political career, on a Securities and Exchange Commission settlement involving Mr. Christie’s brother, on names and documentation of his household help, on information from his time as a securities industry lobbyist, and on his medical history. “The dossier on the Garden State governor’s background was littered with potential land mines,” the authors write.

Daily Kos’ Jed Lewison parses the revelation, and you have to wonder what Republicans may have to deal with in the run-up to 2016:

[I]n Team Romney’s estimation, Chris Christie has some serious liabilities as a general election candidate.

It’s well-known that Romney had concerns about Christie’s health—this was before Christie’s stomach stapling surgery—and the fundraising implications of picking him—investment firms are barred from donating to the campaign of any governor of a state with whom they conduct business, which would have made raising from Wall Street extremely difficult for Romney.

But it’s interesting that in addition to questions about his medical history, Romneyland had specific concerns about about potential legal troubles involving Christie and his brother as well as concerns about Christie’s earlier career as a lobbyist and his household staff—and that Christie was apparently unwilling to divulge information to clear those concerns up.

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By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.