As news of Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) announcement to throw his name into the crowded pool of GOP presidential hopefuls echoed about the country, Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) made an announcement of his own. While not yet an official presidential candidate, Gov. Christie instead backed the ongoing lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, at once confirming the Governor’s conservative dilemma and alienating a critical Latino constituency in his state.
“America under Barack Obama has become a defensive, reactive and weaker country both at home and abroad,” Christie told attendees of a fundraiser over the weekend. “When America doesn’t lead, bad people with bad intentions do lead. We need a leader in the White House once again who knows how to lead America and lead the world.”
Christie’s administration quietly joined the legal battle against the President last week – the same battle which has stalled the President’s actions in the months since its passing in November – and simultaneously sent a signal to the sizable Latino population in New Jersey that the Governor is not afraid to lean farther to the right than he had when elected in 2010. This comes as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush have seen their campaigns take off, attracting scores of positive attention and, consequentially, donors with deep pockets.
“Governor Christie’s support of this misguided lawsuit is further proof his political aspirations trump the needs and will of the people of New Jersey,” said Johanna Calle, program coordinator of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice which is supported by unions, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.
Surely a tactical calculation, time will tell whether this move will pay off for the Christie camp and a hardline appeal to conservativism in the end, or if his supposed political aspirations will instead prove detrimental. But it is far too early to read into what prompted the New Jersey Governor to publicly support the executive action lawsuit; we are still, after all, 20 months from Election Day.
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