Chris Christie bombs at convention by setting egotistical sights on 2016

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I like Mitt. Mitt's a friend of mine. But, you know, if things don't work out...

The first thing is that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is an egomaniacal blowhard.

The second thing is that, reportedly, one of the reasons he didn't want to give up his current position to be Romney's running mate is that he thinks Romney will lose in November.

The third thing is that, should Romney lose, Christie would be a leading contender for the GOP nod in 2016.

The fourth thing is that Christie's an egomaniacal blowhard.

So, really, it should have come as no surprise that he bombed, at least according to how these things are judged, with his keynote address at the Republican convention Thursday night:

There is no mistaking what a successful keynote speech for Chris Christie would have looked and sounded like. There would have been an electric reaction from the crowd in the convention hall. It would have been followed by waves of effusive media commentary about how people had just heard the future of the Republican Party.

Judged by these standards, there is also no mistaking what the New Jersey governor delivered instead: A prime-time belly-flop, one that notably failed to clear either of those two high bars.

The reaction in the audience was mildly enthusiastic, and muted in comparison to the reception given to Ann Romney just minutes before Christie spoke. Political commentary about the 24-minute speech — while some of it has been favorable — has been dominated by discussion of whether Christie offered too many words about himself and too few about Romney or about the kind of original and provocative ideas that many were expecting on such a major occasion.

Too much about himself? Not enough about his pal Mitt? Huh.

No "original and provocative ideas"? Well, he needed to play it safe, didn't he, even in terms of self-promotion. He's a conservative but not necessarily the sort of right-wing ideologue currently dominating the party. (He's been original and provocative before, but in the Republican Party being something other than, say, an anti-Muslim bigot is original and provocative these days, and it didn't make sense for him to alienate a crowd of true believers given his longer-term political aspirations.)

Chris Christie carefully positioning himself for a 2016 run? Say it ain't so!

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