It’s over for Chris Christie
The morning began as any other morning would. The sun came up. The morning dawned. People made pots of coffee and got ready for work. I doubt many of these people knew that on that day, a massive political scandal was waiting to envelop Fort Lee, New Jersey, and smother the political hopes of its New Jersey Governor forever.
This scandal, frequently referred to as “Bridgegate,” occurred in 2013. And years later, the ramifications are still felt by the one person many feel got away with it all.
For Chris Christie, Bridgegate was his lonely swansong. It finished the man. His approval ratings plunged downward, his reputation suffered irreparable harm, and it would never recover.
Now in the year 2022, Christie wants power back. Oh, boy, does he want it. And he cannot have it because his name is fused with Bridgegate. Christie claims to this day he didn’t know. Some believe him. Most don’t. Some scandals are impossible to recover from. This is one of them.
I know many in New Jersey. In that state, you can’t say his name without talking of “Bridgegate.” And that brings us to Christie and his continued attempts for relevance. Does he knows, do you think? Does he know his political career is over?
On some level, I think he does. But denial can be a powerful aphrodisiac. For someone like Christie, a man who has said he’s not ready to retire, I imagine he must be a little bitter. And what’s, so tragic is had it never happened, he might have gone far. Christie was popular. Republicans liked him, but so did many Democrats and independents He was seen as that rare person who was well-liked on all sides. That is no longer true.
And now, he’s trying his best to bridge that divide. Only he can’t. He can’t go back and change what happened. So he must fight on. I wonder when he will decide it’s just not worth it.
