New Jersey governor and presidential hopeful Chris Christie received some very good news this Thursday.  The New York Daily News reported that the U.S. Justice Department has so far found no evidence that Christie knew of the Bridgegate traffic lane closures in advance.

This news, regarding one of Christie’s biggest weaknesses in the run up to the 2016 presidential election, makes him one of the strongest candidates and could propel him to the head of the pack for the nomination.

In early September of 2013, two of the three traffic lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey that connected to the George Washington Bridge and New York City were closed. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich did not support Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election.  The lane closures were believed to be motivated by political retribution against Sokolich.

From the start, Christie has insisted that he had no knowledge of the closure and it seems that he has been honest.  This confirmation of political honesty is the equivalent to a rainbow after a bad rainstorm.  Before Bridgegate, Christie was seen as the preeminent favorite for the GOP nomination.  After Bridgegate, he was stuck in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates.

Now that Bridegate seems to have passed, or at least has the potential to pass in the future, Christie could easily break away from his Republican competitors.
His no-nonsense demeanor and straightforward style are very appealing to the average voter who is fed up with dealing with stereotypical politicians.  But Christie is seen as a Republican in name only by a significant portion of the far right-wing GOP base.

Despite this perceived moderate image, Christie will do very well in the primaries because he may end up being the best candidate — or at least the best candidate to beat Hillary Clinton, likely the Democratic contender.  He has good appeal to Independent voters while also putting the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey into play.  He is the kind of Republican that a national electorate could get behind.

Christie is not the ideal hard-line conservative by any stretch of the imagination, but the GOP needs to focus on winning, rather than who is the most right-wing candidate.
Though I would prefer someone more conservative, winning should be the No. 1 goal, especially if we face Clinton in 2016.

Many conservatives would cry foul because I am defending a moderate establishment candidate.  Judging from the likes of Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney, trying to push a moderate conservative into the White House never seems to pan out, as those candidates all lost the general election in 1996, 2008 and 2012, respectively.  However, their moderate credentials had little to do with their defeats.  Other factors were in play.

The economy was doing well in 1996, making the reelection of sitting President Bill Clinton almost a sure thing.  And then in 2008, Republicans were blamed for the recession of 2007–08.  Considering this recession was historically bad and the democrats had a young and captivating orator named Barack Obama to come and save the U.S., the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan lost the presidential election of 2008.  And then the economy started to recover by 2012, which gave Obama an advantage that Romney could not overcome.

Good conservative policy cannot influence this country until we have the power to enact it. Bridgegate is Christie’s biggest weakness and that seems to have largely gone away. The former mark on his reputation and his perceived lack of conservatism should not cloud the reality that he is very electable and that he could lead the Republican Party into the White House.

Chris Pulliam is a sophomore policy studies and political science major. His column appears weekly.   He can be reached at [email protected].

Published on September 24, 2014 at 12:45 am