Centerfield

Further, Whitman just reinforces the view that conservatives in my party hold pertaining to "moderates," that they're soft and mushy and weak and can't be trusted to stand up for themselves. The most successful moderates in recent years have been pols like Ross Perot, Jesse Ventura, Rudy, and Arnold. The reason is that all these mods come across as tough, strong, and principled.

I think Christie is probably running for Senate. I know many disagree, but I just don't see her as a nat'l player. Her book showed her political savviness, and that savviness would certainly inform her that the path to the GOP nod does not come through writing books critical of the base. She's probably trying to lay a foundation for Corzine's Senate seat.

She was very forthright in her talk at Harvard, which I blogged a few weeks ago. She took unscripted questions from the audience--though she asked that they be written down in advance and read by the moderator, rather than having a give and take with the questioner. Still, there were some sharp questions, which she did not evade.

At that time, she said she wasn't planning on running for anything, so she could speak freely. Perhaps she may run for Corzine's seat, and has become more circumspect.

Not good to hear...

A couple of weeks ago, she was a guest on a local NPR talk show, the Diane Rehm Show. She took caller questions. I recall her being asked about her EPA tenure and she was quite proud of it. The callers asked her questions about her. I don't recall any questions like the ones on the web site.

I took the questions as to explain the PAC, its creation and purpose and not about her politically. I couldn't find a date/time for the online chat so I frankly forgot about it.

I lived through two terms of Christie as governor. Admittedly, I have blocked most of the experience as unpleasant but I can say that I am not surprised by the descriptions of her as soft, etc. She cut taxes by thirty percent (in order to prove her conservative creds) during her term and, like all good pols, did almost nothing to control the expense side and had to borrow a lot of money to balance the budget.

Please do not mistake my comments as supportive of the Dems ~ they have been equally irresponsible. However, the mess she left will require a massive amount of effort to clean-up. Whatever pain that requires will undoubtedly land squarely on the Dems since they now control the state government.

BTW, I will resist saying never but I don't think she has a chance at a Senate seat ~ she is simply not that popular in NJ.

I think if Whitman wanted to be a Seanator she would have run against Torricelli... You don't write a book about national politics without thinking nationally. I also disagree that writing a book bashing the base is a bad way to go. I think if Whitman or any other moderate gets a nomination it will be because they have created a new base.