Can Chris Christie Keep Dodging The Medicaid Expansion Bullet?
It may surprise some conservatives, but Ohio governor John Kasich isn’t the only Republican presidential candidate to expand Medicaid in his state under new Obamacare rules.
Relentless conservative opposition to the Medicaid expansion has largely frustrated the presidential aspirations of Kasich, Christie’s chief competitor in the hotly contested race to emerge from New Hampshire as an establishment dark horse. But though Kasich takes unrelenting flak for his decision to institute Obamacare’s expansion of the Great Society entitlement program in Ohio, Christie’s identical choice as governor of New Jersey has faced little national scrutiny. In fact, many conservatives outside of his state aren’t even aware of it.
“Christie’s hanging his hat on his ability to reform entitlements,” says national Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “All someone has to say is, ‘Wait a minute, how can we trust you to reform Social Security when you can’t even reform Medicaid?’”
Still, Christie can’t avoid the subject of his Medicaid expansion forever. If he performs well in New Hampshire and the GOP electorate moves away from its current focus on foreign policy, O’Connell says the Medicaid expansion could be “particularly problematic” for Christie. The New Jersey governor has built his domestic agenda around promises to roll back entitlement spending, producing a detailed plan that would increase the retirement age and cut off Social Security at higher incomes. By taking federal money from the very same system he now calls insolvent to pay off his own state’s debt, he risks being labeled a hypocrite. And his best defense — that he was a Republican governor doing the best he could with a Democratic legislature — may not be good enough for a conservative base tired of compromise.
What About Cathy?
Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers is one of Capitol Hill’s better-known faces. She’s vice chairman of the House Republican conference and an ally of Speaker John Boehner. She’s also gaining notice on the airwaves. On Sunday, for example, she appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, where she sparred with Rachel Maddow and Hilary Rosen.
Outside of the Beltway and her Spokane-area district, McMorris-Rodgers remains, for the most part, a political unknown. But that hasn’t stopped a handful of Republican insiders from citing her as a dark-horse veep contender. “The attention is not surprising,” says GOP consultant Ford O’Connell. “She’s been doing excellent work, speaking on behalf of Romney. But a lot of people would have to fail to meet the mark before she gets the call.”
Other Republican sources generally agree with O’Connell: McMorris-Rodgers is considered a rising star, but she is far from a likely selection.
Southern Discomfort: Gingrich Faces A Critical Test Down South.
More than a dozen years after leaving the House, where he represented the Atlanta suburbs for two decades, Newt Gingrich returns to the Deep South this week for a critical Dixie test.
Ninety delegates are at stake; more than that, Gingrich needs a pair of victories to remain a viable contender. But winning Alabama and Mississippi will be difficult.
Polls in both states show Gingrich in a strong position, but he is not necessarily the front-runner. According to Rasmussen, Mitt Romney leads in Mississippi, and in Alabama Gingrich barely leads Rick Santorum. Gingrich and his allies, however, are confident that they can survive.
Now, the two leading anti-Romney conservative favorites will clash near Gingrich’s home turf. Gingrich’s challenge is not only to beat Romney but also to halt Santorum’s rise.
“If Gingrich can’t win in the South, it’s unclear where he’ll find momentum,” says Ford O’Connell, a GOP consultant who worked on former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour’s 2007 reelection campaign. “It’s his base. Santorum has appeal, but he and Romney do not speak southern.” The pressure on Gingrich to impress is intense.
“Given the fact that Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are vying for the same voting bloc in the Deep South, Mitt Romney could win one of these two states,” says Ford O’Connell. “And if that occurs, the GOP primary could wind down, with Romney showing strength across all regions.”
