Chris Christie has no national party.. It’s hard for beltway both-siders to admit, but Chris Christie or any Republican who can win executive statewide office in the North East in the post George W. Bush “you’re with us all the time or against us forever more” era will not be able to take hold. The “debt-ers” and the “my values are opposite black president’s values voters” are the national base of the party. They built it that way. They enabled those people and now they are stuck with these constituencies being the folks who dictate national aspirations. Sheriff Joe is their Sheriff. The Tea Baggers are the soul of their caucus. Grover Norquist their deacon.

You can’t be an AG or a Governor out here, have these cities, transportation systems, schools, hospitals and jails to run and then be against all those things being run by someone who was elected. The Republican plebiscites have shown they are firmly against all of that.