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He hasn’t thrown his hat into the ring, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie certainly sounded presidential last night — delivering an uplifting speech praising America as an “exceptional’’ country while making a stirring call for national unity.
In his address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., the hugely popular Republican sounded the call for “strong presidential leadership — Reagan-like leadership.’’
Christie held up Reagan as a shining example of how a president should do the job.
He cited what many conservatives consider one of Reagan’s finest hours, his 1981 showdown with striking air-traffic controllers.
“In violation of their contracts, [they] went on strike,’’ Christie said. “President Reagan ordered them back to work, making clear that those who refused would be fired . . . Thousands refused, and thousands were fired.
“Ronald Reagan was a man who said what he meant and meant what he said. Those who thought he was bluffing were sadly mistaken.’’
That was a lesson the entire world came to understand.
“The Reagan who challenged Soviet aggression . . . was the same Reagan who stood up to [the controllers],’’ Christie said.
America, Christie added, is an “exceptional’’ country and Reagan never forgot that.
“He judged that as good as things were, and had been, for many Americans, they could and would be better . . . in the future,’’ he said.
In his call for unity, Christie harshly criticized Congress.
“We watch a Congress at war with itself because they are unwilling to leave campaign-style politics at the Capitol’s door . . . And still we continue to wait and hope that our president will finally stop being a bystander in the Oval Office.”
He contrasted what’s happening nationally with the situation in New Jersey, where “we identified the problems, we proposed specific means to fix them . . . And we compromised on a bipartisan basis.
“Over the last 20 months, you have actually seen divided government working’’ in his state, he said.
President Obama, he said, seems to have forgotten the call for unity he delivered at the 2004 Democratic Convention, when he was an Illinois state legislator.
“Now, seven years later, President Obama prepares to divide our nation to achieve re-election,” Christie thundered.
Although Christie’s speech, which received a standing ovation, sounded suspiciously like a declaration of his candidacy, he once again said he wasn’t running.
After his speech, several audience members pleaded with Christie to change his mind,
“I really implore you, I really do mean this with all my heart — we can’t wait another four years . . . reconsider,” one woman told him.
But Christie, while calling the words “extraordinarily flattering,” said he doesn’t have the burning desire to be president and won’t run without it.