@Frank Apisa,
Excerpts from the Sunday Star-Ledger:
"Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a fellow Republican, declined to hold any public events with New Jersey’s celebrity governor, a rarity in the middle of a re-election campaign."
Continuing:
Excerpts from the SundayStar-Ledger:
"If this continues, he clearly can’t perform the functions of the chair, which is to go in and put the spotlight on GOP gubernatorial candidates on the ballot in November," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "If he’s going to go into a state to help … but then he becomes the issue and generates negative headlines, then he can’t serve as RGA chair, it’s obvious."
The governor had a former ally, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, to thank for the latest fusillade of criticism. In a 40-minute interview broadcast nationwide on MSNBC, Zimmer charged that top administration officials threatened to choke her city’s disaster-relief funding after Hurricane Sandy unless she approved a development project Christie wanted on the waterfront.
A spokesman for the governor, Colin Reed, returned fire later in the day. "It’s very clear partisan politics are at play here as Democratic mayors with a political ax to grind come out of the woodwork and try to get their faces on television," he said.
An RGA spokesman, Jon Thompson, said Christie would press on with his Florida itinerary today. "All the fundraising events are still on," he said.
In Orlando, Scott’s campaign received a $2.5 million donation from the Christie-led RGA yesterday, he said. The press was turned away by city police officers at the main entryway as donors filtered in driving Cadillacs, BMWs, Lexuses and a Rolls-Royce. Christie’s black SUVs arrived through a back entrance.
In his absence, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), was happy to address the crowds of reporters camped outside Christie’s events.
'CHRISTIE BLASTED
In an interview with The Star-Ledger, Wasserman Schultz blasted Christie and the administration officials, claiming they "threatened" Zimmer.
"It’s just another example of the pattern of bullying and intimidation and retribution that takes place if you don’t do what Chris Christie wants," she said. "My understanding was that 80 percent of Hoboken was underwater, that they desperately needed those recovery funds."
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/scandal_allegations_dog_chris_christie_during_his_florida_fundraising_trip.html
