First Take: A field of Washington outsiders. Including the insiders.
In some ways, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie isn't a good fit with today's GOP — a Northeasterner in a party that's grounded in the South, and a relative moderate in one that's dominated by conservatives.
But his blunt, bash-Washington message? That fits just fine.
"Americans are filled with anxiety," Christie told a hometown crowd at his old high school in Livingston, N.J. "They're filled with anxiety because they look to Washington, D.C., and they see a government that not only doesn't work anymore but doesn't even talk to itself."
On Tuesday, Christie became the 14th major contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. Two more sitting governors, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and John Kasich of Ohio, are expected to join the race next month, swelling numbers that already have hit records.
What unites all of them is a message that Washington is broken, lacking principled leadership and flinching at the nation's toughest problems. The theme crosses the ideological spectrum, from Christie to the very conservative Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Indeed, it unites actual outsiders (such as retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former CEO Carly Fiorina) with those whose previous battles have been aimed at winning jobs in the aforementioned Washington (among them Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul).
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For Christie, that message — his campaign slogan is "telling it like it is" — is also a way to turn a negative into a positive. It means his abrupt manner doesn't prove he's a bully; it shows he's a fighter. His strategists hope his take-no-prisoners style just might appeal to voters frustrated with what they see as politics-as-usual from leaders in both parties.
Christie is hardly alone in his critique of the capital. Real-estate mogul Donald Trump declared at his campaign announcement that the country was being run by "losers." In his new book, A Time for Truth, published Tuesday, Cruz titled a chapter about maneuverings by the Senate GOP leadership "Mendacity."
"We are not going to clean up the mess in Washington by electing the people who either helped create it or have proven incapable of fixing it," former Florida governor Jeb Bush said at his announcement address, presumably a swipe at Rubio and other rivals who are now serving in Congress.
On that, former Texas governor Rick Perry agrees. "We're not going to fix Washington by electing a president who is from Washington, of Washington, or for Washington," he told a New Hampshire audience. "Change is only going to come from the outside, in my perspective, and so should the next president."
Running as a Washington outsider isn't exactly unprecedented. Indeed, it's harder to find candidates who have run as Washington insiders.
In 2008, Hillary Clinton did portray herself as an experienced policymaker who would know what to do when, as one of her campaign ads warned, the White House phone rang at 3 a.m. (Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination anyway.)
And in 1980, George H.W. Bush boasted he had the longest résumé in the field — U.S. representative, U.N. ambassador, Republican national chairman, envoy to China. "A president we won't have to train," the campaign declared in brochures and ads. (Maybe so, but Washington outsider Ronald Reagan beat him anyway.)
This time around, however, the attacks on Washington as a dysfunctional place governed by hypocrites have taken on a fierce velocity, and the scorn often is heaped not only at the Democratic president but also at fellow Republicans who control the House and Senate. Congress is admittedly a ripe target: In The Gallup Poll, just 17% of Americans approve of the job it's doing.
In a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, released Tuesday, Americans by more than 2-1, 58%-26%, say the nation is on the wrong track.
"Both parties have failed our country," Christie said. "Both parties have stood in the corner and held their breath waiting to get their way." He vowed to address tough problems such as addressing the long-term stability of Social Security and Medicare.
Christie has a lot to overcome to win the nomination. One hurdle is the continuing investigation into Bridgegate, the caper by former aides who orchestrated a traffic jam to punish a Democratic mayor who had refused to endorse Christie for re-election. Another is the state's budget problems that have prompted credit downgrades.
What's more, Christie's conservative credentials are questioned by some who cite his decision to accept the Medicaid expansion offered through the Affordable Care Act and to drop the state's appeal of a decision recognizing same-sex marriage.
In the RealClearPolitics average of public polls, Christie ranks ninth in the GOP field, a tick behind Trump and battling to remain in the top 10 who will participate in the first televised debate in August.
"I mean what I say and I say what I mean," he said, "and that's what America needs right now."
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