Star Ledger Editorial: Our thin-skinned governor

Evidently the big guy can dish it out but he's a little sensitive when it comes to himself. The below editorial appeared today in The Star-Ledger and hits the nail on the head when it comes to Christie's hypocritical and contrived outrage over a comment made by his Democratic rival, Barbara Buono that he insists was targeted towards his girth :

In a daring political stroke, Gov. Chris Christie is making a strategic pitch to capture the obese vote in New Jersey.

The strategy is designed to make fat people mad at state Sen. Barbara Buono by claiming that she poked fun at the governor’s weight.

“For me and for other folks across New Jersey – many folks – who are challenged by their weight, the fact that someone running for governor would make derisive comments about someone’s physical appearance is really beneath the office she is seeking. I’m disappointed that she’s done it.”

The catch is this: Buono (D-Middlesex) did no such thing. This is a fake tantrum, a ploy that is so cynical you almost have to admire it. 

The offending comment came during a Buono speech when she criticized the governor for making himself the star of a $25 million ad campaign that is supposed to encourage visits to the Shore. 

Buono criticized his shameless self-promotion with Sandy relief money; not his weight.
Here’s what she said: “I don’t know about you, but seeing Chris Christie frolicking on the beach is not going to drive me to go to the Shore.”

That’s it. You may have expected a reference to the governor’s weight, to his Lap-Band surgery, or to the jelly doughnuts he wolfed down with David Letterman. 

Buono, unlike Letterman, has never criticized the governor over his weight. She was objecting to his shameless self-promotion in the TV campaign, and the fact that the governor’s team agreed to pay $2 million extra for a campaign that ensured the governor would personally appear in the advertisements. 

That kind of self-promotion by a governor is illegal in some states, including New York. And remember, to pay for it the governor dipped into a pot of money earmarked for Sandy victims, many of whom remain in desperate shape.

It was special to hear the governor say that Buono’s comments are “beneath the office she is seeking.” This is a guy who loves to roll in the mud, who calls his critics numbnuts, liars and idiots. 

Who knew he could be so thin-skinned himself?

Video: Gov. Christie says, 'we know what' Buono meant by beach 'frolicking' comment New Jersey Gov. Christie was asked for a second day in a row about comments made by his November election opponent, Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono that he interpreted as being a joke about his weight. Buono says her comment were simply a criticism of his appearance in the 'Stronger than the Storm' television commercials aimed at attracting business to the Hurricane Sandy ravaged Jersey Shore.

 Here's what Baraba Buono actually said: