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What President Obama can learn from Gov. Christie

Let me finish tonight with Governor Chris Christie.I wonder if the Democrats, and President Obama himself, might learn something from the current Republican fas

Let me finish tonight with Governor Chris Christie.

I wonder if the Democrats, and President Obama himself, might learn something from the current Republican fascination with Governor Christie.

Look at him.  He's not a man of great accomplishment.  He's only been in office two years.  Nobody out in the country knows what he's really done in New Jersey.

It's not even some speech they heard him give or major statement he's made about the country.  Most don't really know what he's done or said that marks him as a conservative.

What we know about Governor Christie is the way he reacts to people.  If someone criticizes him, he criticizes "them."  If he doesn't like the way someone's behaving he goes after them.

He's irritable!  That's what people like about him.  He's grouchy!  Grumpy!  And he doesn't mind you knowing it!  In fact, he's ready to let you or anybody else know about it.

In other worlds, he's in the same mood as most of this country. 

And that's what President Obama needs to get a hold on.  If he wants this country to listen to him, he's got to get in touch with the mood we're in: Retired people are watching their savings.  They're worried about the lower interest rates out there, worried that the money they've saved is getting smaller each week. People facing retirement in the next few years worry that what they've been able to put aside simply may not be enough.

Young people just out of school are looking at a job market that's bare of opportunity.  "Failure to launch" isn't just the name of a movie; kids staying with their parents after graduation has become a new normal. People in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, face a situation at work where a new owner or a consultant can show up some day and begin clearing out people overnight.

So when people like this see a man like Chris Cristie showing his pain, they might be saying, "This guy gets it!" He's hurting like I am."

This is why President Obama can learn something from this overnight affection for the Governor of New Jersey.  People are attracted to a leader who seems to be hurting like they are.