I had no desire to watch Chris Christie yesterday, but for anyone who braved it, what was the gist?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

My guess was his speech was full of sarcasm and snark, but I can't say for sure.

Details?

[spanone]

1. here's the gist....'i'm a great guy'

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. Looking forward to 2016, I see.

Can't wait to see Martin O'Malley smack him around a little more.

[HipChick]

2. Romney who?

[FSogol]

4. He truly is the angry selfish face of the GOP.

[flamingdem]

5. You mean what was the girth?

[Lucy Goosey]

6. REPUBLICAN HULK ANGRY

REPUBLICAN HULK A GREAT GUY
REPUBLICAN HULK HAVE POOR IMMIGRANT PARENTS
REPUBLICAN HULK BALANCE NEW JERSEY BUDGET
REPUBLICAN HULK SAY OBAMA WORST PERSON EVER
REPUBLICAN HULK KNOW UNION BAD FOR WORKER AND AMERICA

...okay, fine, republican hulk support Mitt Romney.

[karynnj]

16. Good summary

The fact that he said things in an angry tone did not make them true. The fact is he has NOT been good for NJ. He was elected in Nov 2009 and his first state budget was in fall 2010. Keep that in mind when you look at the comparison of NJ unemployment with national unemployment. http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/new-jersey/

Nj had in past downturns been one of the first to recover, but we are among the worst in the nation. Not to mention, he unilaterally turned down the largest infrastructure project in the nation in spite of it being very needed to keep NJ competitive with other neighbors of NYC.

In addition, class sizes are greatly increased and even in affluent suburbs there are many thinking the quality of education is falling. (Nj was always among the best in the country).

As to his poor immigrant parents, apparently after his dad graduated from Rutgers in I guess 1962 (given that Christie is 50 and was a fetus, he likely got a very good job in the DEMOCRATIC economy - the go go 60s. I know that Christie attended a very upscale, preppy private high school - so the family was doing well.

[BlueStreak]

7. He referred to a lack of teamwork several times

The commentators interpreted that as a slap at Republicans in the House, but to me it sounded more like a vague criticism of "Obama's leadership". The tone of voice struck me as if he was saying "If I was in there, I would butt heads and make people cooperate."

[mstinamotorcity2]

8. The Gist

he bashed and touted at the same time. He was for teachers and against them at the same time. He was for firefighters but not their unions.He railed against union rights and fair wages. The republican standard platform about government is too big and the public sector employment. funny he hasn't said a word about his buddy who he gives all the state parolee contracts to. The one who let the murderer escape under Governor Christie's watch. Or that he is 48 in job creation. Or his poll numbers aren't that good. And he is always yelling and screaming and I think he has anger management issues.What the hell was that last night.

[JHB]

12. Or that he cancelled the new tunnel to NYC (i.e., needed infrastructure), but...

...thinks it's OK to use state funds for private ventures (a casino in Atlantic City and a mall in the Meadowlands).

And welcome to DU!

[JCMach1]

9. No Chickens in Any Pot, unless you lay the egg, raise it up, kill it yourself

- he's the reverse Huey Long

[Armstead]

10. "My father was able to go to college on the GI Bill, but I hate government."

During his "biography" he proudly talked about how his father went to college on the GI Bill....Then he proceeded to blast government and saying we all need to make "tough choices" to destroy the government.

[RKP5637]

11. In short, ugly and mean IMO. n/t

[Jennicut]

13. Lots of bloviating and mentions about himself.

Added in mentions about Romney as an afterthought.

[MadHound]

14. Basically it was all about Christy,

It was his opening speech for the 2016 primary season.

[lame54]

15. Me Me Me Me - oh yeah and Mitt