Christie: Bush is the Target

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Donald Trump leads in the polls and has hogged media coverage, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday his biggest opponent on the GOP presidential debate stage tonight is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“He’s the establishment frontrunner. He’s the guy with the most money,” Christie told Laura Ingraham, referring to Bush’s access to a donor network built by a father and brother who both served as president. “So he’s the biggest competitor for any of us on that stage.”

Christie took a few shots at Bush, noting that he has largely been absent from the political scene for nearly a decade since leaving office. Christie pointed out his experience traveling the country as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

“I’ve been in the middle of all these fights,” he said.

 He said, “Unfortunately, Gov. Bush got caught up in playing” the game of politics on the Democrats’ field.

Christie also accused Bush and his other fellow candidates of not being aggressive enough at confronting Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s “foggy detour.” That “detour” occurred when she was asked about her reaction to a series of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials talking about shipping body parts of aborted fetuses to research laboratories. He said, “Unfortunately, Gov. Bush got caught up in playing” the game of politics on the Democrats’ field.

“No one was willing to call Hillary Clinton out on this. They were just kind of mealymouthed talking around it,” he said.

Christie said he arrived Wednesday night in Cleveland, the site of tonight’s debate, and is spending the day making final preparations and spending time with his wife and three of his four children. He acknowledged that Trump to a certain extent has stolen his persona of the tough-talking doer who doesn’t care what critics think.

But Christie said he believes he has better qualifications for the presidency than the real estate mogul.

“I don’t think his skills are best suited for this process or for running the government,” Christie said.

The governor acknowledged the zeitgeist that Trump has tapped into on the issue of illegal immigration. He rejected the notion of some political scientists that changing demographics doom the GOP. Instead he pointed to his own record in New Jersey, where he won 51 percent of the Latino vote.

“First, we need to make sure we stand up for the American worker,” Christie said. “Americans in this country are under-employed right now, both in terms of their part-time work and  in terms of their wages.”

Christie said he will talk about his record and the issues that he cares deeply about, such as school choice. He said the Planned Parenthood controversy is a perfect example. A politician cannot “lead from fear,” he said.

“I’m going to be myself, and that’s always worked well for me … and not worry about what the New York Times editorial page thinks about you,” he said.

“I’m going to be myself, and that’s always worked well for me … and not worry about what the New York Times editorial page thinks about you,” he said.

The biggest challenge for Christie — and the other nine candidates on the debate stage — may well be time.

Conservative commentator George Will told Ingraham that with 10 candidates and three questioners from Fox News, the average candidate will have about 11 minutes to make an impression on the American people. That is enough time to commit a memorable gaffe, but maybe not enough time to change the trajectory of the race in the other direction, he said.

“We’re talking about snippets here,” he said. “There’s a limit to how much good you can do yourself.”

Ingraham asked journalist Ron Fournier which candidates have the most to lose tonight.

“Who has the most to lose is who has the most,” he said, pointing to the frontrunners in the polls.

Follow @LifeZette on Twitter for live debate coverage and commentary from PoliZette staff Thursday Aug. 6th at 5pm and 9pm EST.