Move over, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan. It’s time for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s time in the vice presidential spotlight. Thanks to his recent trip to Israel, boosting his foreign policy credentials, his outspoken support for Mitt Romney and now an upcoming autobiography due out next month, the buzz is about to explode just as Romney begins mulling who to pick.
“Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power” compares the first-term governor to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the swashbuckling former prosecutor and 9/11 mayor who flopped on the presidential stage. It even notes that Christie has hired key Giuliani aides to help him in his successful bid to take on New Jersey public unions and cut spending.
Christie has repeatedly said he doesn’t want the No. 2 job but the book notes that he went further, telling a Princeton University audience last May, “If I were ever at this moment just elevated to the presidency, I would be filled with self-doubt.”
Killer comments? Nah, Christie said in an advance copy of the book provided to Secrets. “Everybody I talked to, just everybody I talked to, kept telling me, ‘Don’t worry about that. That will be the story for the first week that they’ll talk about, and they’ll play that over and over again. But the reality’s going to be you’re running, so, OK.’ ”
Authors Michael Symons and Bob Ingle think Christie will be the most entertaining veep choice. “They could sell tickets to a Christie-Joe Biden debate,” they wrote.
Now banned at White House: Backpacks
The White House has updated its list of tourist do’s and don’ts, with chewing gum now allowed but oversized backpacks verboten. Also added to the list of items barred inside the White House grounds: pointy objects and suitcases.
In announcing April 21-22 as the open house dates for the White House gardens, the East Wing listed 14 items not allowed, two more than for last year’s spring garden tours. It’s pretty much the obvious stuff: Guns, knives, fireworks, food and mace. And in a White House run by a reformed smoker, no ciggys are allowed either.
Uncle Sam’s Easter tax: 33%
Thousands of excited families gathered Monday for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, but the increasing tax bite took some sweetness out of the rest of the Easter holiday. When all taxes, fees and tariffs are totaled for goods and services associated with Easter, the final bite from Uncle Sam is a whopping 33 percent.
“When kids ask why there are fewer eggs in their Easter basket this year, you can tell them it’s thanks to their Uncle Sam,” said John Kartch of Americans for Tax Reform. According to ATR, Americans spent an average of $145 on Easter, making it the fourth-largest shopping holiday of the year. Some $48 of that went to taxes, or 33 percent. Overall, Americans spent nearly $17 billion at Easter. Nearly $6 billion went to taxes, said ATR.
Mainstream Scream: CNN’s Toobin
Our weekly look at the loudest screech from the mainstream media features CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin who on Thursday derided an appeals court judge who wanted an explanation for President Obama’s contention it would be “unprecedented” for the Supreme Court to overrule a law passed by Congress. “Some of these Republican judges are just deranged by hatred of the president,” Toobin said.
Media Research Center Vice President of Research Brent Baker explains our pick: “CNN’s legal expert insults and impugns the judges who just wanted some clarification — putting discrediting of Obama’s critics ahead of basic reporting. Another amazing Obamagasm moment.”
Rating: Four out of five screams.
Paul Bedard, The Examiner’s Washington Secrets columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears each weekday in the Politics section and on washingtonexaminer.com.
