Chris Christie basks in high approval ratings and media love but insists his handling of Hurricane Sandy was beyond politics
Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey today appears on the cover of Time magazine but has brushed aside the buzz about him mounting a 2016 White House bid, insisting it would be 'crazy' for anyone to try to 'plan four years from now'.
Christie's popularity ratings have rocketed since the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and his recent blasting of Republicans in Congress for failing to pass a hurricane relief bill.
Time paints him as 'the master of disaster' and 'The Boss' - a moniker that Christie will no doubt revel in given his admiration of Bruce Springsteen, also from New Jersey.
'Master of Disaster': Christie has been honoured with a Time Cover since he rose to prominence after Superstorm SandyA Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind poll released on Monday showed that 73 per cent of registered New Jersey voters approved of the job Christie was doing. In November, Christie announced he would run for re-election this year.
Christie has also been feted this week on top national television shows. On NBC's 'Today Show' on Wednesday he reacted to the Time magazine cover by telling Matt Lauer: 'I'm going to be Governor of New Jersey. That's my job.'
More... We may pull ALL American troops out of Afghanistan at the end of 2014, says White House Beware the X Date: America could run out of cash on February 15 unless another bruising deal is struck on tax and spending cutsHe added that 'Sandy is and was above politics' - a reference to the criticism he took from Republicans when he was pictured with President Obama amid the devastation of Sandy during the last days of the election campaign.
But when asked if he was happy with the direction of the Republican party, he responded: 'We've lost the last two national elections in a row. I'd say the answer is no...we need to be looking at doing something different.'
Senior Republicans believe that Christie, who publicly agonized about whether to run for president in 2012, is a virtual certainty for a 2016 White House run assuming, as expected, he coasts to re-election in New Jersey, a Democratic state.
Recovery: Christie insisted 'Sandy was above politics' as he campaigns for more aid in the clean-up. Pictured is Seaside Heights, NJ, yesterdaySpeaking to George Stephanopoulos on the ABC News show 'Good Morning America', however, Christie brushed all this aside. 'The fact of the matter is I'm going to follow the advice my mother gave me, which is to do the job that you have right now as well as you can do it and the future will take care of itself.
'What I want to do now is be the governor of New Jersey, as I said, for the last three years, I'd like to do it for the next four.'
Christie already had a high national profile but his warm embrace of President Barack Obama, his tireless efforts in the wake of the hurricane and his public evisceration of Republican leaders has led to him being lauded as a truth-telling, get-it-done, non-partisan leader.
In his 'state of the state' address in Trenton, New Jersey this week, Christie again struck a bipartisan note. 'One thing I hope everyone in America now clearly understands -- New Jersey, both Republicans and Democrats, will never stand silent when our citizens are being short changed.'
Christie faces difficulties being accepted by the Republican establishment and grassroots conservative outside the north-east. But he appears to be calculating that the party may be ready for a more centrist nominee in 2016.
The New Jersey did let slip that he thinks he might be better prepared for a tilt at the White House in 2016 than he was last time around. 'I will be more ready than I was in 2012 because I will have done my job for longer and hopefully gotten better,' he said.
