Christie Tries to Find an Opening as Haley Stumbles over Slavery

Chris Christie sees an opening – and it has to do with slavery.

This is about to be 2024, but in the crazy politics of the day, slavery has become an issue in the Republican presidential primary.

This latest brouhaha began a few days ago in New Hampshire when Nikki Haley was asked why she thought the Civil War began. She subsequently said the question was a “Democrat plant.”

Who knows? It may have been.

But this really wasn’t a tough question. Haley, most infamously now, did not say the Civil War began over slavery. She has tried since to recover, but the damage has been done. How lasting it will be is the question.

And on that score, the former governor of New Jersey hopes the damage lasts a long time – or at least until the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary.

Christie’s long shot presidential hopes rest on establishing himself as a genuine alternative to Donald Trump. His polling in New Hampshire has been better than it has been elsewhere, but he remains behind Haley, who is now in second place. A recent poll averaging by Real Clear Politics puts Christie at 10.5 percent; Trump is at 46 and Haley is at almost 25.

Clearly, the one-time county freeholder from Mendham Township, has a long way to go.

He began trying to get there with a TV appearance Friday morning in which he called Haley a “slippery, slick politician.”

He said her performance in answering the slavery question was “pretty poor,” adding that “she knows better.”

The “knows better” part of the line was Christie’s real point. While Haley does indeed know better, she is afraid to offend anyone.

This, obviously, raises a more troubling point.

By condemning slavery as the reason for a civil war, who are you going to offend?

Well, let’s consider. Trump has given so-called dog whistles to white sumpremacists since his first run for the presidency. Who can forget his “good people” on both sides comment about white racists marching in Virginia in 2017?  And, of course, most recently his talk about immigrants poisoning blood.

If Haley fears offending that element of the GOP’s base, shame, shame on her. That’s Christie’s point.

You know Christie is not going to let this issue go. But will it move the needle in New Hampshire? Or put another way, will it propel the former governor to the second place finish that he needs to stay relevant, and perhaps even stay in the race?

This is another example of what inevitably plagues Christie’s campaign. Broadly speaking, those who most agree with his condemnations of Trump – and now Haley – do not vote in Republican primaries.

Another issue here can not be ignored.

The Republican Party was formed in the 1850’s to oppose slavery.

So you really have to wonder why Haley, or for that matter, any Republican, would struggle with the question.

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