New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sparked controversy this week after giving his position on the mandatory vaccination debate. Critics, including many conservatives, thought Christie hedged on the topic, which has picked up steam after the Disneyland measles outbreak. However, Salem radio host Mike Gallagher suggested that Christie’s position is the “ultimate conservative position.” What do you think?
MG: We all get to have different viewpoints and all get to express them in a civil way toward one another, and I think you get to express the belief, as a parent, that you don’t want your child vaccinated against whatever you don’t want your child vaccinated against. Most vaccines should be voluntary, and Chris Christie is right, parents should have some measure of choice. Now, the staffs of Rand Paul and Chris Christie are trying to walk back their comments to some degree but that’s just spin, here’s Chris Christie yesterday, audio courtesy of NBC News:
CC: All I can say is we vaccinate ours … I think it’s much more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official, and that's what we do, but I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that's a balance the government has to decide but I can just tell people from our perspective, Mary Pat and I have had our children vaccinated and we think it’s an important part of making sure we protect their health and the public health.
MG: Cant imagine why that’s an unreasonable position, Chris Christie’s position on vaccinations is perfectly logical. He said we vaccinate in our kids, so that’s where I stand on it, but there should be some measure of parental choice. In other words, what Chris Christie is saying is, my wife and I make sure our kids are vaccinate but we respect the rights of other parents who choose not to vaccinate their children. Isn’t that the ultimate conservative position? Isn’t that the ultimate correct position?