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Sunday, January 12, 2014
Chris Christie. Bridge lane closings. 2016. Discuss.
Chris Christie denied knowing that the George Washington bridge was closed. He later fired one of his senior aides that was with him that day. Without many more facts it is hard to decide if he knew about it or not. State democrats will say he knew about it and republicans will say he did not know about it. Until the investigation is completed i doubt we will know the truth. But one thing is for certain, even if he did not know about it, the scandal will hurt his campaigning.
Chris Christie was involved in a scandal but McCain said he believes that he can move past it. Rubio however refuses to comment on Christie's scandal until he has complete knowledge of the facts. The New Jersey assemblyman believes it is unbelievable that the governor of New Jersey did not know about the closures of the George Washington bridge. Christie later fired one of his senior aides over the bridge scandal, the day she sent out an email about it. The facts are still uncertain but now his honesty and morals are questioned. The scandal will do nothing but hurt Christie.
This is kinda weird....it seems unusual that his closest members of his administration would not notify him. The act seems like a rebellion against the current mayor, but also maybe against Christie? Is it possible that they had the intent of hurting Christie's campaign? Just a thought.
Democrats have said the lanes were closed as an act of political retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, who did not support Christie in his 2013 reelection. However, Christie denied knowing about the closing, and later fired his aide. He received support from former New York mayor Giulliani saying that you miss a lot of stuff during campaign mode. Until the investigation is over with we will not know the details, but either way it will hurt his campaigning.
Chris Christie was involved in a scandal that will be tough to recover from. It will affect his campaign obviously, as it seems like he should have known about the Bridge lane closings. This should not go well for him.
I do not think that Chris Christie had known anything about this. I do find it weird, though, that his closest member didn't tell him about this. Because Christie planned on running for president, i do not think that he would risk doing this.
Chris Christie is involved in something that will be tough to recover from. It will effect his campaign because he should have known about the bridge closings. I believe it will be better for him if he would have known about the closing of the bridge.
Lanes were closed on the George Washington bridge, and New Jersey governor Chris Christie says he knew nothing about it. Democrats are accusing him of closing the bridge as a political act against a mayor who did not support him, which, if they're right, seems to be a strange motive to me, considering the consequences: citizen complaints about the lane closings(not getting to work on time, etc.) and difficulties for ambulances, policemen, and fireman to respond to emergencies. If he is lying, I think he would most likely not receive a 2016 presidential nomination.
This scandal will definitely affect Christie's campaign. Like Brittany said, it could have been intentional, an effort to shine a negative light on Christie. When more information comes out, I wonder what he'll do to improve his image. And I agree with you Erika- if it was intentional, it seems extreme and rather careless.
Whether or not Christie knew about the bridge being closed, it will definitely effect his campaign. If he did know about the closure, he looks like a liar and the public will be unable to trust him. However, if it is proven that he did not know anything he will come off as "out of the loop" in his own state. It'll look like he can't control the people around him. Either way this isn't good for Christie's campaign.
It is hard to say whether or not Christie knew of the lane closures on George Washington bridge, however it is highly unlikely that he didn't. It is strange to me that this would happen during a year in which he is trying to get re elected. Also I think that he he did know of the lane closures he would not have fired his senior aide. I think that this has been happening to much in our government regardless of the people involved. There has been many scandals such as Benghazi, fast and furious, and the IRS. Where major events and catastrophes have happened, and yet no government officials claim responsibility, and claim that they didm't know what happened. Our government officials need to start taking responsibility for their actions.
The scandal will definitely affect Christie's campaign. Even though it has not been proved yet whether or not he was involved, he still looks very suspicious by firing his aide. Which will cause lack of trust from people and will not make him look very good when election time comes. Altogether, the bridge closing scandal will catch up to him eventually, whether that is losing trust for people or just being taken out of the loop completely.
With politicians, there are perfectly good reasons to doubt them. There's this concept of "doublespeak" when it comes to things said by the government about certain subjects. For example, a bomb goes off in Iran, and it belongs to the US, and it ends up killing innocent civilians. What term do our legislators coin for this? "Collateral damage". They have just turned a brutal casualty rate into something that sounds like a financial issue. Since not many know the meaning of "collateral damage", it causes them to become uninterested in the topic, say, when hearing it in the news. Therefore, they stop listening and then do not consider the issue when the candidate it questions is up for election.
A little off-topic, but my main point is that political leaders lie. Not that there seems to be any doublespeak going on here that I've read about so far, but it's impossible to tell whether Christie was actually informed about the bridge closing. So many people are going to say so many different things about a story that should only have two sides: one side if morals and honesty were perfect in human beings.
There's the possibility that Christie is telling the truth, or also that someone had wanted to try to hurt his campaign, a protest of some sort, who knows?
However, since Christie fired his aide after all of this occurred, I'm leaning toward his honesty.
This scandal is difficult for me to take a definitive stance on. On one hand it baffles me that Christie could claim that he didn't have any involvement or even knowledge of the lane closings that were ordered by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Kelley. As a Deputy Chief of Staff, one of her primary jobs is to carry out and supervise the projects that are ordered by her superior executive, or Chris Christie. As an employee of an administration that is looking at a prospective nomination for the Republican party's candidate in the 2016 presidential elections, why would she risk such a monumental scandal if it wasn't ordered, or at least approved, by Chris Christie himself? And as the abc reporter said when interviewing the former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, how could he not notice the thousands of cars were residing on the bridge and also in the surrounding town of Fort Lee? Furthermore, the Democrats will undoubtedly use this against him if he does win the Republican presidential nomination, because this scandal made him look like an incompetent fool who doesn't have control over his administration. It seems as if she is a vehicle to keep Christie's finger prints off a scandal that could potentially end his promising political outlook. That being said however, I don't want to be too quick to say that he is the perpetrator of the bridge closing. In 1972, before the advent of computers, and transitively email, the Watergate scandal was revealed. Emails can't be destroyed as easily as tapes. In this modern age, investigative journalism will surely uncover any and every incriminating email that was sent by or to Christie and his administration. It seems illogical that a man who has so much on the line politically, between his reelection as governor and possibly his campaign for presidency, would risk his well established career on a scandal that will be debunked. Also, Christie, after Hurricane Sandy, exemplified public bipartisanship; it seems uncharacteristic, and not to mention childish, that the governor would close the lanes as a punishment for Mayor Sokolich's choice to not endorse Christie in his reelection. But only time will tell.
I think it is really strange that Christie didn't know about the lanes closing, but I also think it is even more sketchy that his closest member hadn't notified him of this. With him firing his aide, also, this scandal will definitely negatively affect his campaign. Without all of the facts, though, we won't be able to definitely say how this will effect him or his campaign for president.
There is no doubt that the scandal will have an impact on Chris Christie's campaign, whether or not he really knew about the bridge lane closings or not. What really confuses me is the fact that his aides knew about the situation and did not tell him. While the state is split, democrats say that he knew about the whole situation and republicans disagreeing saying that he had no idea, no one really knows the truth right now except Chris Christie himself. Even if he truly did not know about the closings, the scandal will hurt Chris Christie's campaign.
New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, claims to have been unaware of the closing of the George Washington bridge. The Democratic party is accusing him of knowing about it and doing it in order to spite a nonsupporting mayor. The argument is at a stand still with the Democrats saying he knew about it and the Republicans saying he didn't. Either way this negative attention will hurt his campaigning.
This looks pretty bad for Christy. This seems very suspicious that no one notified him about the bridge closings. This affects his campaign negatively and I don't think people will be able to trust him. Also Christy firing his aide after all this happened maybe there is some truth behind this.
Chris Christie claims to not have known that the George Washington bridge was closed, and later fired his aide. Despite whatever is true or false in the situation, it is drawing negative attention on him and will hurt his campaign.
Chris Christie claims to not have known that the George Washington bridge was closed, then later fired his aide. Despite whatever is true or false in the situation, with all the negative attention being drawn on him, it will hurt his campaign.
No matter what exactly happened, this hurts the image of everyone involved because they are being portrayed as politicians more concerned with themselves than the people. I'm not sure we will know what exactly happened, because the people involved are in damage control mode, but no matter what Chris Christie's possible presidential campaign is already damaged by this scandal.
@Dani I would also add this this could detract from the major narrative of his campaign: that he works well with the other side to get things done. This, if he knew about it, condoned it, or allowed a culture that tolerated it to exist could fly in the face of that narrative.
This story was fantastic. Good old fashioned politics. If someone doesn't support you, you take out their goshdarn bridge!
But it all seriousness, it is somewhat of a political dilemnia. We don't know if Chris Christie knew about the bridge or set up the idea, and we most likely will never know unless one of the aides come forward and discloses something. Could his presidential bid be ruined? Potentially. But Christie did what he had to do to appease the public (fire someone somewhere)and soon Bridgegate will be all behind us. Unless there is new information tying Christie to the bridge, there probably won't be too much of a scandal in 2016 bid because the only argument his opponents could make would be that he is too much of a politician for office. Because 2016 might be a year where citizens prefer more compromise, that would be the one thing to hurt Christie.
Chris Christie is getting himself into trouble with the bridge situation. He denied knowing anything about the George Washington bridge being closed. He also fired his Senior Aide that was with him that day. This publicity could majorly effect the outcome of the next presidential election.
I think that the scandals will definitely impact the campaign for Chris. I agree that its difficult to know whether or not whether he really knew about the closings or not, but i feel that this will impact his progress no matter what happens.
I think that the scandals will definitely impact the campaign for Chris. I agree that its difficult to know whether or not whether he really knew about the closings or not, but i feel that this will impact his progress no matter what happens.
Chris Christie will definitely be affected by this event, especially if he runs for president in 2016. Whether he knew about said bridge closure or not, or he was lying or not- both have bad looking outcomes for him.
I think this will hurt is presidential run. Both of the more extreme sides of the political parties don't like him because of his moderate positions and now this scandal won't help with the people in the middle even if he didn't know about it. I think so far he has reacted in the best way possible but only time will tell how much this will effect his future campaigning.
I don't see how Christie could not have been told about this issue. He must have been involved with it somehow, so how could he not have been told that there was a decision to close the bridge lanes? This scenario sounds ridiculous and I feel that it will make Christie seem unfavorable.
Democrats are accusing Christie of closing lanes on the George Washington bridge and he is denying it. Even if Christie is telling the truth this will negatively impact his campaign because it creates a bad public image of him. If it is found that Christie is lying, I do not believe that he will receive a nomination for the upcoming presidential election.
Chris Christe was involved in a scandal denying the that the George Washington bridge was clsoed. He then fired the aides that was with him that day. I believe that Christe probably knew about the bridge but choose to ignore it because of "campaign mode". I think it will hurt his campaign because even a small scandal can cause harm to a candidate's campaign.
This scandal will be very difficult for Chris Christie to recover from. He should have known about the lane closings. We have seen some similar situations last year such as how Obama did not know about the vastness of the data collection by the NSA. Overall, this scandal will greatly affect Christie's campaign and it will create many troubles for him in the future.
The federal government is investigating Christie's use of the Sandy relief funds. They are investigating if Christie used $25 million for tv ads to increase tourism to the jersey shore. Christie was later criticized for appearing in a ad that was paid by the taxpayers. After skimming over the other subjects i've come to the conclusion that New Jersey governor Chris Christie is corrupt and should not be governor of anything.
Democrats are accusing Chris Christie of closing the Washington Bridge lanes in spite of a mayor not supporting him, but as it is causing many complaints and issues for citizens in their daily lives, it wouldn't make sense for Christie to make this decision.
Obviously this scandal is going to effect his election chances; however i believe the fact that Chris Christie is for working together between the parties, is what all governers and congressmen should be willing to do. chris Christie does what he believes is good for the people and not just his party. In my opinion, i believe this scandel should not have an effect on anyones vote in New Jerseys election for the simple fact that Chris Christie is a prime example of what a governer should be.
The scandal will defiantly alter the campaign. Whether or not he new what was happening he will look foolish to the public. Also, firing his aide just adds to it all and will lead back to harm him later.
The scandal will not affect Christie's campaign because people who are set on voting for Chris will continue to vote for him regardless of this situation. Also, the scandal shows no signs of abating. After democrats investigated the role Christie and his staffers played in closing lanes on the bridge, causing a massive traffic jam, they found it was an apparent act of political retribution. It shouldn't affect his chances in office.
I believe Chris Christie really didn't know about this. But he will still get flak just for having these people on his staff. I think he responded well to the situation with the extended press conference and the firing his senior staff members. This seems like an extremist staff member trying to stick it to the Hoboken mayor. This doesn't seem like something Christie would sign off on, because of his bi-partisan involvement and future plans. No way would he be that stupid to purposely jeopardize that. It seems bad now but I do think that he is still going to a competitive contender in this next presidential election.
I defiantly think that this will effect his campaign in 2016. If people were on the edge for voting for him they probably wont be voting for him anymore. Even if the election isn't for two more years and he does a lot of good things from now until then, people will still remember all of the negative things that have been going on and will be hesitant in voting for him if he runs.
The huge inquiry for the media is how long would they be able to anticipate that general society will listen to the news media attempting to clean its mess up. I pick not to accept that a representative whose staff ambushed his own particular residents; can ever win the presidency some time or another, if he thought about it in advance or not. He's eventually answerable for their conduct, this cover up will not be believable.
I feel like this will effect the election even though there was confusion. Voters may automatically be turned away from Chris Christie if they do not consider the situation.
The Chris Christie debate is an interesting one. Before this scandal, especially after the Hurricane Sandy issues, Christie looked like he could be a powerful candidate for the Republican party, and had a pretty large following. Due to this scandal and the many other things he has recently been put in the news for, his character is a bit in question and I think this definitely hinders his chances at becoming the President of the United States. I believe he has great leadership skills, but clearly lacks some things it takes to be a successful leader of this country. This scandal gives us a hint of light into what we could expect of him as a president. And though people have their own opinions, I assume this scandal will have a significant influence on that and will have a lasting effect on his candidacy.
Like many have previously stated, I believe this scandal will have a negative effect on the eventual campaign of Governor Christie. Though he has seemed to successfully lead the state of New Jersey, especially through the disaster of the hurricane, scandals play a big role in the loss of voters for a candidate. Many people who were previously on the edge about Christie or another candidate are more likely now to vote against Christie. His biggest supporters will not change what they think about him overall, but he will suffer in the amount of "swing" voters he could lose because of this scandal. I think it will be very interesting to see how this election, as well as the rest of his term as Governor, plays out.
This bridge scandal, dubbed "bridgegate" by his opponents, has the potential to seriously damage Christie's 2016 prospects. He was looking like the front runner for the GOP nomination because of his bipartisan popularity, but these allegations are starting to erode his popularity, and other Republicans are starting to reveal their dissatisfaction with him. He still has time to recover if these claims prove untrue, but if they are true, his chances of becoming president are practically zero.
Because this event is labeled as a “scandal”, many voters will look at the situation and question Christie as a leader. I do believe that this situation will hurt his reputation for the time being. However, if he does run for president in 2016, not many people will make a big deal of this “scandal”. He also claims he did not know about this when it originally happened and ended up firing his deputy chief of staff. It’s hard to truly know what happened because of how media spins news and how the news get portrayed to the public. Again, this scandal will hurt him in the short run, but I don’t think it will linger with him for an extended period of time.
I find it hard that Chris Christie knew nothing about the closed bridge lanes. He may or may not have a significant role in the bridge closings, but I do believe he knew about it, being his position. Involve or not I believe it will affect his reputation and cost him the next election.
Whether Christie was aware of the bridge closing or not, this is something that will definitely effect his campaign. The fact that he claims to not be notified of the situation is baffling to me. However, if true, it hinders his image as a leader. If he does not know what is going on in the state around him, how will he have any chance at governing an entire nation? On the other hand, if he was aware of the closing, his trust with the American public will most likely be severed. This could cost him votes in the 2016 election, as scandal and dishonesty are not desirable attributes for a potential President.
It doesn't matter if Chris Christie new about the scandal. A scandal will hurt your campaign if you know about it or not. If he says he didn't know about it that will make him seem like he doesn't know what is going on. But, if you said he did, well that's not going to help him either.
I think that this scandal will hurt Chris Christie's campaign no matter what. There are going to be people that believe that he was informed and knew about the bridge closing whether he did or not. So the people that were going to vote for him but now think he was involved with the Washington Bridge scandal are not going to vote for him. He became unfavorable. It just isn't fair to him if he actually wasn't involved but I don't think we will ever know for sure.
This is to Noah Golden. Do you think Chris Christie would be better off saying he was unaware of what happened or admitting to it and just owning it. It seems to me that historically, people fare better in the eyes of the public when they admit to things like this and apologize instead of hiding under it and pretending he wasn't a part of it. I also agree that no matter what it was that he is going to be harmed in his election because of this scandal.
@Brandon Bhatti: It does seem very uncharacteristic of Christie, which is why I think it could have been a over enthusiastic staff member making the call. It would be hard for Christie to micromanage everything that goes on. But you could question his thought process regarding who he lets onto his staff.
@Noah Golden I think it would matter if he knew about the scandal because it makes him seem worse. Had he not known about it, the public opinion of him might not have been as bad.
Chris Christe, who was involved in a scandal. It will effect him big time in politics, until the case becomes clear. The investigation is still not completed.
Chris Christie will be negatively affected by this, I agree with ben dewinter about the American Government actions specifically as of late even though this has always been.
Chris Christie was involved in a scandal with McCain that will be difficult to recover from. It will definitely effect his campaign because it seems as though he should have known about the bridge lane closings. It is also weird that his closest member did not tell him about this. This probably will not end well for him.
In reply to the first article I posted, I believe that Christie's chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, should turn over evidence such as emails and text messages regarding Christie's George Washington Bridge Scandal. This release of evidence will hopefully help the scandal and clear some misconceptions.
In response to the second article I posted, I do not believe that the bridge scandal affected Christie's campaign for president yet. Yet is the key word because once Christie becomes involved in debates with other politicians, the bridge scandal could be used as a point against him and could be one of the reasons he may loose in the election. I don't believe that the scandal will derail his presidential campaign.
64 comments:
Chris Christie denied knowing that the George Washington bridge was closed. He later fired one of his senior aides that was with him that day. Without many more facts it is hard to decide if he knew about it or not. State democrats will say he knew about it and republicans will say he did not know about it. Until the investigation is completed i doubt we will know the truth. But one thing is for certain, even if he did not know about it, the scandal will hurt his campaigning.
Chris Christie was involved in a scandal but McCain said he believes that he can move past it. Rubio however refuses to comment on Christie's scandal until he has complete knowledge of the facts. The New Jersey assemblyman believes it is unbelievable that the governor of New Jersey did not know about the closures of the George Washington bridge. Christie later fired one of his senior aides over the bridge scandal, the day she sent out an email about it. The facts are still uncertain but now his honesty and morals are questioned. The scandal will do nothing but hurt Christie.
This is kinda weird....it seems unusual that his closest members of his administration would not notify him. The act seems like a rebellion against the current mayor, but also maybe against Christie? Is it possible that they had the intent of hurting Christie's campaign? Just a thought.
Democrats have said the lanes were closed as an act of political retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, who did not support Christie in his 2013 reelection. However, Christie denied knowing about the closing, and later fired his aide. He received support from former New York mayor Giulliani saying that you miss a lot of stuff during campaign mode. Until the investigation is over with we will not know the details, but either way it will hurt his campaigning.
Chris Christie was involved in a scandal that will be tough to recover from. It will affect his campaign obviously, as it seems like he should have known about the Bridge lane closings. This should not go well for him.
I do not think that Chris Christie had known anything about this. I do find it weird, though, that his closest member didn't tell him about this. Because Christie planned on running for president, i do not think that he would risk doing this.
Chris Christie is involved in something that will be tough to recover from. It will effect his campaign because he should have known about the bridge closings. I believe it will be better for him if he would have known about the closing of the bridge.
Lanes were closed on the George Washington bridge, and New Jersey governor Chris Christie says he knew nothing about it. Democrats are accusing him of closing the bridge as a political act against a mayor who did not support him, which, if they're right, seems to be a strange motive to me, considering the consequences: citizen complaints about the lane closings(not getting to work on time, etc.) and difficulties for ambulances, policemen, and fireman to respond to emergencies. If he is lying, I think he would most likely not receive a 2016 presidential nomination.
This scandal will definitely affect Christie's campaign. Like Brittany said, it could have been intentional, an effort to shine a negative light on Christie. When more information comes out, I wonder what he'll do to improve his image. And I agree with you Erika- if it was intentional, it seems extreme and rather careless.
Whether or not Christie knew about the bridge being closed, it will definitely effect his campaign. If he did know about the closure, he looks like a liar and the public will be unable to trust him. However, if it is proven that he did not know anything he will come off as "out of the loop" in his own state. It'll look like he can't control the people around him. Either way this isn't good for Christie's campaign.
It is hard to say whether or not Christie knew of the lane closures on George Washington bridge, however it is highly unlikely that he didn't. It is strange to me that this would happen during a year in which he is trying to get re elected. Also I think that he he did know of the lane closures he would not have fired his senior aide. I think that this has been happening to much in our government regardless of the people involved. There has been many scandals such as Benghazi, fast and furious, and the IRS. Where major events and catastrophes have happened, and yet no government officials claim responsibility, and claim that they didm't know what happened. Our government officials need to start taking responsibility for their actions.
The scandal will definitely affect Christie's campaign. Even though it has not been proved yet whether or not he was involved, he still looks very suspicious by firing his aide. Which will cause lack of trust from people and will not make him look very good when election time comes. Altogether, the bridge closing scandal will catch up to him eventually, whether that is losing trust for people or just being taken out of the loop completely.
With politicians, there are perfectly good reasons to doubt them. There's this concept of "doublespeak" when it comes to things said by the government about certain subjects. For example, a bomb goes off in Iran, and it belongs to the US, and it ends up killing innocent civilians. What term do our legislators coin for this? "Collateral damage". They have just turned a brutal casualty rate into something that sounds like a financial issue. Since not many know the meaning of "collateral damage", it causes them to become uninterested in the topic, say, when hearing it in the news. Therefore, they stop listening and then do not consider the issue when the candidate it questions is up for election.
A little off-topic, but my main point is that political leaders lie. Not that there seems to be any doublespeak going on here that I've read about so far, but it's impossible to tell whether Christie was actually informed about the bridge closing. So many people are going to say so many different things about a story that should only have two sides: one side if morals and honesty were perfect in human beings.
There's the possibility that Christie is telling the truth, or also that someone had wanted to try to hurt his campaign, a protest of some sort, who knows?
However, since Christie fired his aide after all of this occurred, I'm leaning toward his honesty.
This scandal is difficult for me to take a definitive stance on. On one hand it baffles me that Christie could claim that he didn't have any involvement or even knowledge of the lane closings that were ordered by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Kelley. As a Deputy Chief of Staff, one of her primary jobs is to carry out and supervise the projects that are ordered by her superior executive, or Chris Christie. As an employee of an administration that is looking at a prospective nomination for the Republican party's candidate in the 2016 presidential elections, why would she risk such a monumental scandal if it wasn't ordered, or at least approved, by Chris Christie himself? And as the abc reporter said when interviewing the former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, how could he not notice the thousands of cars were residing on the bridge and also in the surrounding town of Fort Lee? Furthermore, the Democrats will undoubtedly use this against him if he does win the Republican presidential nomination, because this scandal made him look like an incompetent fool who doesn't have control over his administration. It seems as if she is a vehicle to keep Christie's finger prints off a scandal that could potentially end his promising political outlook. That being said however, I don't want to be too quick to say that he is the perpetrator of the bridge closing. In 1972, before the advent of computers, and transitively email, the Watergate scandal was revealed. Emails can't be destroyed as easily as tapes. In this modern age, investigative journalism will surely uncover any and every incriminating email that was sent by or to Christie and his administration. It seems illogical that a man who has so much on the line politically, between his reelection as governor and possibly his campaign for presidency, would risk his well established career on a scandal that will be debunked. Also, Christie, after Hurricane Sandy, exemplified public bipartisanship; it seems uncharacteristic, and not to mention childish, that the governor would close the lanes as a punishment for Mayor Sokolich's choice to not endorse Christie in his reelection. But only time will tell.
I think it is really strange that Christie didn't know about the lanes closing, but I also think it is even more sketchy that his closest member hadn't notified him of this. With him firing his aide, also, this scandal will definitely negatively affect his campaign. Without all of the facts, though, we won't be able to definitely say how this will effect him or his campaign for president.
There is no doubt that the scandal will have an impact on Chris Christie's campaign, whether or not he really knew about the bridge lane closings or not. What really confuses me is the fact that his aides knew about the situation and did not tell him. While the state is split, democrats say that he knew about the whole situation and republicans disagreeing saying that he had no idea, no one really knows the truth right now except Chris Christie himself. Even if he truly did not know about the closings, the scandal will hurt Chris Christie's campaign.
New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, claims to have been unaware of the closing of the George Washington bridge. The Democratic party is accusing him of knowing about it and doing it in order to spite a nonsupporting mayor. The argument is at a stand still with the Democrats saying he knew about it and the Republicans saying he didn't. Either way this negative attention will hurt his campaigning.
This looks pretty bad for Christy. This seems very suspicious that no one notified him about the bridge closings. This affects his campaign negatively and I don't think people will be able to trust him. Also Christy firing his aide after all this happened maybe there is some truth behind this.
Chris Christie claims to not have known that the George Washington bridge was closed, and later fired his aide. Despite whatever is true or false in the situation, it is drawing negative attention on him and will hurt his campaign.
Chris Christie claims to not have known that the George Washington bridge was closed, then later fired his aide. Despite whatever is true or false in the situation, with all the negative attention being drawn on him, it will hurt his campaign.
No matter what exactly happened, this hurts the image of everyone involved because they are being portrayed as politicians more concerned with themselves than the people. I'm not sure we will know what exactly happened, because the people involved are in damage control mode, but no matter what Chris Christie's possible presidential campaign is already damaged by this scandal.
@Dani I would also add this this could detract from the major narrative of his campaign: that he works well with the other side to get things done. This, if he knew about it, condoned it, or allowed a culture that tolerated it to exist could fly in the face of that narrative.
This story was fantastic. Good old fashioned politics. If someone doesn't support you, you take out their goshdarn bridge!
But it all seriousness, it is somewhat of a political dilemnia. We don't know if Chris Christie knew about the bridge or set up the idea, and we most likely will never know unless one of the aides come forward and discloses something. Could his presidential bid be ruined? Potentially. But Christie did what he had to do to appease the public (fire someone somewhere)and soon Bridgegate will be all behind us. Unless there is new information tying Christie to the bridge, there probably won't be too much of a scandal in 2016 bid because the only argument his opponents could make would be that he is too much of a politician for office. Because 2016 might be a year where citizens prefer more compromise, that would be the one thing to hurt Christie.
Chris Christie is getting himself into trouble with the bridge situation. He denied knowing anything about the George Washington bridge being closed. He also fired his Senior Aide that was with him that day. This publicity could majorly effect the outcome of the next presidential election.
I think that the scandals will definitely impact the campaign for Chris. I agree that its difficult to know whether or not whether he really knew about the closings or not, but i feel that this will impact his progress no matter what happens.
I think that the scandals will definitely impact the campaign for Chris. I agree that its difficult to know whether or not whether he really knew about the closings or not, but i feel that this will impact his progress no matter what happens.
Chris Christie will definitely be affected by this event, especially if he runs for president in 2016. Whether he knew about said bridge closure or not, or he was lying or not- both have bad looking outcomes for him.
I think this will hurt is presidential run. Both of the more extreme sides of the political parties don't like him because of his moderate positions and now this scandal won't help with the people in the middle even if he didn't know about it. I think so far he has reacted in the best way possible but only time will tell how much this will effect his future campaigning.
I don't see how Christie could not have been told about this issue. He must have been involved with it somehow, so how could he not have been told that there was a decision to close the bridge lanes? This scenario sounds ridiculous and I feel that it will make Christie seem unfavorable.
Democrats are accusing Christie of closing lanes on the George Washington bridge and he is denying it. Even if Christie is telling the truth this will negatively impact his campaign because it creates a bad public image of him. If it is found that Christie is lying, I do not believe that he will receive a nomination for the upcoming presidential election.
Chris Christe was involved in a scandal denying the that the George Washington bridge was clsoed. He then fired the aides that was with him that day. I believe that Christe probably knew about the bridge but choose to ignore it because of "campaign mode". I think it will hurt his campaign because even a small scandal can cause harm to a candidate's campaign.
This scandal will be very difficult for Chris Christie to recover from. He should have known about the lane closings. We have seen some similar situations last year such as how Obama did not know about the vastness of the data collection by the NSA. Overall, this scandal will greatly affect Christie's campaign and it will create many troubles for him in the future.
The federal government is investigating Christie's use of the Sandy relief funds. They are investigating if Christie used $25 million for tv ads to increase tourism to the jersey shore. Christie was later criticized for appearing in a ad that was paid by the taxpayers. After skimming over the other subjects i've come to the conclusion that New Jersey governor Chris Christie is corrupt and should not be governor of anything.
Democrats are accusing Chris Christie of closing the Washington Bridge lanes in spite of a mayor not supporting him, but as it is causing many complaints and issues for citizens in their daily lives, it wouldn't make sense for Christie to make this decision.
Obviously this scandal is going to effect his election chances; however i believe the fact that Chris Christie is for working together between the parties, is what all governers and congressmen should be willing to do. chris Christie does what he believes is good for the people and not just his party. In my opinion, i believe this scandel should not have an effect on anyones vote in New Jerseys election for the simple fact that Chris Christie is a prime example of what a governer should be.
The scandal will defiantly alter the campaign. Whether or not he new what was happening he will look foolish to the public. Also, firing his aide just adds to it all and will lead back to harm him later.
The scandal will not affect Christie's campaign because people who are set on voting for Chris will continue to vote for him regardless of this situation. Also, the scandal shows no signs of abating. After democrats investigated the role Christie and his staffers played in closing lanes on the bridge, causing a massive traffic jam, they found it was an apparent act of political retribution. It shouldn't affect his chances in office.
I believe Chris Christie really didn't know about this. But he will still get flak just for having these people on his staff. I think he responded well to the situation with the extended press conference and the firing his senior staff members. This seems like an extremist staff member trying to stick it to the Hoboken mayor. This doesn't seem like something Christie would sign off on, because of his bi-partisan involvement and future plans. No way would he be that stupid to purposely jeopardize that. It seems bad now but I do think that he is still going to a competitive contender in this next presidential election.
I defiantly think that this will effect his campaign in 2016. If people were on the edge for voting for him they probably wont be voting for him anymore. Even if the election isn't for two more years and he does a lot of good things from now until then, people will still remember all of the negative things that have been going on and will be hesitant in voting for him if he runs.
The huge inquiry for the media is how long would they be able to anticipate that general society will listen to the news media attempting to clean its mess up. I pick not to accept that a representative whose staff ambushed his own particular residents; can ever win the presidency some time or another, if he thought about it in advance or not. He's eventually answerable for their conduct, this cover up will not be believable.
I feel like this will effect the election even though there was confusion. Voters may automatically be turned away from Chris Christie if they do not consider the situation.
The Chris Christie debate is an interesting one. Before this scandal, especially after the Hurricane Sandy issues, Christie looked like he could be a powerful candidate for the Republican party, and had a pretty large following. Due to this scandal and the many other things he has recently been put in the news for, his character is a bit in question and I think this definitely hinders his chances at becoming the President of the United States. I believe he has great leadership skills, but clearly lacks some things it takes to be a successful leader of this country. This scandal gives us a hint of light into what we could expect of him as a president. And though people have their own opinions, I assume this scandal will have a significant influence on that and will have a lasting effect on his candidacy.
Like many have previously stated, I believe this scandal will have a negative effect on the eventual campaign of Governor Christie. Though he has seemed to successfully lead the state of New Jersey, especially through the disaster of the hurricane, scandals play a big role in the loss of voters for a candidate. Many people who were previously on the edge about Christie or another candidate are more likely now to vote against Christie. His biggest supporters will not change what they think about him overall, but he will suffer in the amount of "swing" voters he could lose because of this scandal. I think it will be very interesting to see how this election, as well as the rest of his term as Governor, plays out.
This bridge scandal, dubbed "bridgegate" by his opponents, has the potential to seriously damage Christie's 2016 prospects. He was looking like the front runner for the GOP nomination because of his bipartisan popularity, but these allegations are starting to erode his popularity, and other Republicans are starting to reveal their dissatisfaction with him. He still has time to recover if these claims prove untrue, but if they are true, his chances of becoming president are practically zero.
Because this event is labeled as a “scandal”, many voters will look at the situation and question Christie as a leader. I do believe that this situation will hurt his reputation for the time being. However, if he does run for president in 2016, not many people will make a big deal of this “scandal”. He also claims he did not know about this when it originally happened and ended up firing his deputy chief of staff. It’s hard to truly know what happened because of how media spins news and how the news get portrayed to the public. Again, this scandal will hurt him in the short run, but I don’t think it will linger with him for an extended period of time.
I find it hard that Chris Christie knew nothing about the closed bridge lanes. He may or may not have a significant role in the bridge closings, but I do believe he knew about it, being his position. Involve or not I believe it will affect his reputation and cost him the next election.
Whether Christie was aware of the bridge closing or not, this is something that will definitely effect his campaign. The fact that he claims to not be notified of the situation is baffling to me. However, if true, it hinders his image as a leader. If he does not know what is going on in the state around him, how will he have any chance at governing an entire nation? On the other hand, if he was aware of the closing, his trust with the American public will most likely be severed. This could cost him votes in the 2016 election, as scandal and dishonesty are not desirable attributes for a potential President.
It doesn't matter if Chris Christie new about the scandal. A scandal will hurt your campaign if you know about it or not. If he says he didn't know about it that will make him seem like he doesn't know what is going on. But, if you said he did, well that's not going to help him either.
I think that this scandal will hurt Chris Christie's campaign no matter what. There are going to be people that believe that he was informed and knew about the bridge closing whether he did or not. So the people that were going to vote for him but now think he was involved with the Washington Bridge scandal are not going to vote for him. He became unfavorable. It just isn't fair to him if he actually wasn't involved but I don't think we will ever know for sure.
This is to Noah Golden. Do you think Chris Christie would be better off saying he was unaware of what happened or admitting to it and just owning it. It seems to me that historically, people fare better in the eyes of the public when they admit to things like this and apologize instead of hiding under it and pretending he wasn't a part of it. I also agree that no matter what it was that he is going to be harmed in his election because of this scandal.
@Anna A: You say Christy would not do this but don't you think he would have known about the bridge closing?
@Brandon Bhatti: It does seem very uncharacteristic of Christie, which is why I think it could have been a over enthusiastic staff member making the call. It would be hard for Christie to micromanage everything that goes on. But you could question his thought process regarding who he lets onto his staff.
@Noah Golden I think it would matter if he knew about the scandal because it makes him seem worse. Had he not known about it, the public opinion of him might not have been as bad.
Chris Christe, who was involved in a scandal. It will effect him big time in politics, until the case becomes clear. The investigation is still not completed.
Chris Christie will be negatively affected by this, I agree with ben dewinter about the American Government actions specifically as of late even though this has always been.
Chris Christie was involved in a scandal with McCain that will be difficult to recover from. It will definitely effect his campaign because it seems as though he should have known about the bridge lane closings. It is also weird that his closest member did not tell him about this. This probably will not end well for him.
Here is an article I found regarding the Chris Christie bridge scandal.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/10/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-ex-aide-to-governor-must-comply-with-subpoena/
The article discusses how Gov. Chris Christie has shown no valid legal purpose for refusing to comply with a subpoena.
I found another article regarding how the bridge scandal affected Christie's 2016 campaign for president.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chris-christies-2016-problem-has-nothing-to-do-with-a-bridge/
The article discusses how Christie's campaign was not affected by the bridge scandal and how he overcame it.
In reply to the first article I posted, I believe that Christie's chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, should turn over evidence such as emails and text messages regarding Christie's George Washington Bridge Scandal. This release of evidence will hopefully help the scandal and clear some misconceptions.
In response to the second article I posted, I do not believe that the bridge scandal affected Christie's campaign for president yet. Yet is the key word because once Christie becomes involved in debates with other politicians, the bridge scandal could be used as a point against him and could be one of the reasons he may loose in the election. I don't believe that the scandal will derail his presidential campaign.
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