HAMPTON, N.H — A beaming New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie triumphantly took the stage touting his debate spat with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. But the audience appeared more interested in the contrast between Christie and two other candidates: Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The governor proudly told Granite Staters, “I’m as good an arsonist as anybody,” in his opening remarks. And when asked about Trump and Kasich, Christie turned up the heat once again.
Christie said his main criticism of Trump is the question, “How?” during an answer suggesting that a questioner should jump off the Trump train.
“Hope and luck are not a plan,” Christie said. “Bravado by itself, I’m not opposed to it as an element, but bravado by itself is not a plan.”
When Eric Cady, a Hampton resident, asked Christie to contrast himself with Kasich, the New Jersey governor said Ohio’s Republican legislature has been like a ‘Candy Land’ for Kasich. He also criticized Kasich’s time in Washington, D.C.
“You have to remember something, too. John spent 18 years in the Congress. He spent nearly four times the amount of time in the Congress that he spent as governor,” Christie said. “He’s also a creature of that culture. You can’t take that out of you very easily. And so you want somebody who is the pure executive who’s had to fight because that’s what Washington is going to be. It’s going to be a fight.”
Christie then pivoted to a contrast with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that received a standing ovation from the nearly 500-person crowd.
“I want you to ask yourself between now and Tuesday…when the lights come on in late September of this year and some commentator from some network says, “And now ladies and gentlemen, the first presidential debate of the 2016 season, for the Democrats, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,” who do you think is the person she doesn’t want walking through the other side of that stage?” Christie said. “She’s been running away from federal prosecutors for six months.”
Cady told the Washington Examiner that he appreciated Christie’s answer and it did change his thinking. He views Kasich as more of an insider and Christie as a bit of an outsider.
“I came in the door as Kasich, I wanted to give him [Christie] a good listen, and now I’m going, ‘Oh God no,'” Cady said.
“I’m back, at least back on the fence.”
While Christie has repeatedly drawn a contrast between himself and Rubio on the trail, he has focused much less on the other governors running for president who finished better than him in Iowa.
Whether Christie’s strategy will help him succeed in New Hampshire remains to be seen, but the energized town hall crowd behaved like they were attending a rally. The polite golf claps disappeared, replaced by attendees shouting out words of encouragement and wisecracks about Trump.
Two days remain until the New Hampshire primary.
