Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) delivered the GOP response to the State of the Union. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is a sensation in the party, appearing at CPAC and already in demand on the campaign trail.
But much more quietly, Chris Christie (R) is shaking things up in his first days as New Jersey governor, tackling the state's massive fiscal crisis with swift, critics say severe, actions. A new FDU/Public Mind poll finds that a majority of Garden State voters support him in that effort.
Fifty-two percent approve of his job performance less than two months in, while 21 percent disapprove. Support is somewhat divided along party lines, with Republicans backing him 74-7, and Democrats split 38-33. Independents approve by a margin of 43-17 percent. Christie's fav/unfav is now 47 / 25, an improvement from a 41 / 44 split in a poll just before last November's election.
Christie's getting support not just from his home state, however. Excerpts of a recent speech to New Jersey mayors is being circulated widely among national conservatives as an example of a Republican leader walking the walk when it comes to reducing government. Here's an excerpt:
When I went into the treasurer's off in the first two weeks of my term, there was no happy meetings. They presented me with 378 possible freezes and lapses to be able to balance the budget. I accepted 375 of them.
There is a great deal of discussion about me doing that by executive action. Every day that went by was a day where money was going out the door such that the $6 billion pool was getting less and less. So something needed to be done.
People did not send me here to talk, the people sent me here to do. So we took the executive action we did to stop the bleeding.
As we move forward, and we evaluate what we need to do three weeks from now in our fiscal year 2011 budget address, you all need to understand the context from which we operate.
Our citizens are already the most overtaxed in America. US mayors hear it all the time. You know that the public appetite for ever increasing taxes has reached an end.
MCGOP CONVENTION!