New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has flirted with — but not declared — a 2016 run for the GOP presidential nomination because he just doesn't have the, er, guts, for it, according to veteran political consultant Dick Morris.
"It's not the heart or the mind, it's something further down that he doesn't have that's stopping him from running," Morris told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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On CBS' "Face the Nation," Christie told host John Dickerson, "I go through all the different factors that I need to consider. And when I'm done, I check that off and I move to the next factor. And the factor I'm down to now, John, is do I want to do it? Do I want to do it? In my heart, is this something that I really, absolutely want to do?"
Morris — a Newsmax contributor, former adviser to President Bill Clinton and author of
"Power Grab: Obama's Dangerous Plan for a One Party Nation," written with Eileen McGann and published by Humanix — told Steve Malzberg on Monday:
"Let me skim over the question as to whether Christie has got one, but if assumed that he in fact has a heart — that he's not the politically equivalent to the Tin Man — any time a candidate tells you I'm 99.9 percent certain I'm going to do it, if a little nagging doubt, but 99 percent, you can guarantee he's not going to run.
"He's not running. Let's spend a second on his career. He was losing for re-election as governor of New Jersey. Then he in fact almost endorsed [Barack] Obama for president [after] Hurricane Sandy. Singlehandedly re-elected Obama, when he was leading before then, then he tried to make us all forget it. And he had his Bridge-gate thing, but we didn't forget it and he's polling terribly."
Morris also weighed in on Sen. Bernie Sanders' challenge to Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
"People have always said there's no alternative to Hillary, now there is. Not only has he risen in the Quinnipiac Poll from 4 percent in March, to 8 percent in April, to 15 percent at the end of May, but now you have this Wisconsin poll of Democratic delegates, the establishment of the left wing of the party of course, voting only 49:41 for Hillary, Sanders understands how to attack Hillary," Morris said.
"You can't, in a Democratic primary, attack her on Benghazi or on emails or on the Clinton Foundation a little bit, but where you really can attack her is from the left. Sanders is for single-payer, socialized medicine. Hillary is opposed. Sanders wants to break up the major Wall Street banks. Hillary takes their money and does not. Sanders is against free trade agreements.
"Hillary supported NAFTA and helped to draft the Pacific Rim agreement. Sanders supports a $15 minimum wage, the 90 percent tax bracket. Hillary does not and on those issues, the left agrees with Sanders. 1968 is replaying itself. The role of [Sen.] Eugene McCarthy is played by Bernie Sanders. The role of Robert F. Kennedy is played by Elizabeth Warren and the role of Lyndon Johnson is being played by Hillary Clinton."
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