The Politics of Bridge-Gate: Christie Fires Back

For Gov. Chris Christie, as always, the best defense is the attack.

Facing the first real political scandal of his administration, Christie yesterday lashed out at the press and Democratic critics, dismissed the secret lane closures at the George Washington Bridge that snarled traffic in Fort Lee as inconsequential, and stood up for his political appointees who were forced to resign their high-paying Port Authority posts in the wake of Bridge-gate.

“I know you guys are obsessed with this,” Christie chided the assembled press corps at a Statehouse news conference. “I’m really not, it’s not that big of a deal. Just because the press runs around and writes about it both here and nationally, I know why that is and so do you, so let’s not pretend that it’s because of the gravity of the issue. It’s because I am a national figure.”

For Christie, a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 coming off his landslide reelection victory in November, the stakes are high.

“This is the first time anything close to the governor even resembled a scandal,” said Monmouth University political scientist Patrick Murray. “That’s why the Democrats are all over it.”

Not all Democrats, though.

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