Publicly challenging or interrupting New Jersey Governor Chris Christie isn't for the faint of heart, as one fact-challenged constituent discovered early in the week, but that didn't stop the 'Occupy' crowd from giving it a shot. Watch as they cut into Christie's remarks at a Romney rally with one of their dopey "mic check" exercises. After goofing on the intruders as the evening's "entertainment," Christie seizes on their frustration and flips it into a scathing attack on President Obama (via Verum Serum):
They represent an anger in our country that Barack Obama has caused…because he is a typical, cynical Chicago ward politician who runs for office and promises everything and then comes to office and disappoints. And so there anger is rooted, not in me or in Mitt Romney. There anger is rooted in the fact that they believed in this hope and change garbage that they were sold three years ago by this President. They believed in the fact that this President was going to be a post-partisan leader. They believed this President when he said he was going to be a transformational figure in our country. And so now they’re angry but they’re not mature enough to know they should be angry with themselves. So they’re going to be angry with me or governor Romney or some of you. What we should be focused on I think as a country is not being angry at them–they’ll work their problems out over time. What we should be angry about is the lack of leadership in this country.
Occupiers would obviously object to Christie's characterization of the roots of their grievances -- varied and incoherent as they may be -- but his handling of the situation plays very well with the Republican audience. With the public markedly souring on the fading movement, Christie's framing would likely satisfy many independent voters, too. The man is a very gifted messenger. Incidentally, a PAC supporting the man he's chosen to endorse has a new ad out today. Unlike his recent spot that takes a thinly-veiled swipe at Newt, this one goes guns blazing on the true political target: President Corleone.
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