Chris Christie: I Love Lindsay Graham, But I'm Not Too Keen on This Ted Cruz Character

Oh yes.

It's too bad. I had hoped Christie could paper over his differences with the base, because he does have political talent. However, he seems pretty firm on his "Make Sure I Get Crushed in the Primaries" strategy.

Actually I'm not sure if he said he'd like to help Graham in the primary or in the general; go read it. I think it's ambiguous. But it's signalling either way. There is hardly a more despised RINO than Lindsay Graham, apart from John McCain.

To balance that shit-show out, he says something something Tea Party good.

Asked whether he considers himself a member of the tea party element of the Republican Party, Christie sounded conciliatory, telling Tapper, "There are elements of the tea party that are Republicans at their best."

Tea partiers, he noted, favor limited government and individual liberty and freedom. They are tough on government spending and question the need for raising taxes.

"The core of the tea party movement, as I understand it, I think is consistent with good Republican conservatism," Christie said.

But Christie added that when some people try to use the tea party movement to try to enhance themselves politically, it can get "perverted."

More at the link, including video.

I'm not sure I'd disagree with the "can get perverted" idea. I do think that, at least online, people have a tendency to stake out positions which are not really political in nature.

This is why this whole unending Stabbed in the Back/RINO-TrueCon war annoys me so much. While there is a political dimension to it, I see so much of it as simple primate dominance crap. "We're the Top Dogs!" "No, we are!" "Hoot hoot!" "Growl!"

I think we've moved largely away from political stuff to a general intraparty cultural war, and no one actually wins a cultural war, not really. Culture is too specific a thing to win converts on. And also too personal and fundamental a thing.

No one's changing his born-and-raised culture for politics. You can shift someone's position on politics, but not on their culture. No one is ever going to be persuaded that his own born-and-raised culture is inferior and that he deserves to be in a second-class sort of position due to that inherent inferiority.

posted by Ace at 12:47 PM

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