During the 2009 campaign, one Christie commercial even showed his supporters cheering and waving signs as a stirring Obama speech played on the soundtrack. You wouldnt know it from looking at them, or hearing them talk, or hearing people talk about them, but Barack Obama and Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, have a lot in common. And both plan to spend 2011 tackling the same thorny issues: education reform, public-pension stabilization, and long-term debt reduction. Both inherited a post-apocalyptic mess from a predecessor of the opposing party. Both were elected in the midst of the Great Recession. Both sold themselves to voters as truth-telling change agents.

A November Quinnipiac poll shows that 51percent of New Jerseyites approve of the governors performance, compared with only 38 percent who donta spread that has grown 12 points since June. Last week he scored an East Coastelite hat trick: a big story in New York magazine, a guest spot on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and (full disclosure) a NEWSWEEK correspondent at his town-hall event in Hackettstown, N.J., to report a profile. Glenn Beck has compared him to common-sense porn. And Rush Limbaugh recently pondered whether it was wrong to love another man, because I love Chris Christie. Even the mainstream media have begun to fall for the hefty governor. In contrast, the presidents disapproval rating (49 percent) now exceeds his approval (45 percent). Videos of Christie dressing down critics have captivated the conservative blogosphere. Yet with economic growth in a near stall, unemployment approaching 10percent, and experts warning of a double-dip recession, Obama is struggling to recover from the worst midterm rout in 65 yearswhile Christie, 48, is more popular than ever.

There are many reasons Christie is outpacing Obama. In the Garden State, a governor can pass his agenda without a Senate supermajority, and he doesnt have to endure the same radioactive levels of scrutiny and vitriol as the commander in chief. As his time in Trenton has proved, and as last weeks event in Hackettstown confirmed, its also the product of his distinctive approach to governing. But Christies success isnt solely circumstantial.

The easiest way to understand why Christie has flourished and why Obama has faltered is to look at the jobs they held before entering politics. If you spend years exercising your biceps, those are muscles youre going to have. Obama, meanwhile, leads like a professor, examining all angles of an issue and seeking evolutionary change by consensus. There are strengths and weaknesses in both approaches. Christie is who he is, says Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Today, Christie leads like the prosecutor he once was, identifying the crime, fingering the culprit, and methodically building a case designed to convince a jury of his peers. But in an age of anger and austerity, Obama may have more to learn from Christie than the other way around. From January 2002 to December 2008, Christie served as New Jerseys top federal prosecutor; earlier, Obama spent 12 years as a constitutional-law professor at the University of Chicago.

Its an easy message to grasp. The first lesson of Christies success: keep it simple. Within minutes of lumbering into Hackettstowns American Legion Blue Ridge Post 164, Christie has managed to sum up his agenda in less than 140 characters. Were spending too much, borrowing too much, and taxing too much, he says. We need to spend less, borrow less, and tax less. The capacity crowd applauds. After all, whos to say Trenton shouldnt respond to the fiscal crisis the same way families do?.

Thats a valuable thing. Obama boasts about the size and scope of his accomplishments and refuses to reduce complex challenges to catchy soundbites. At a time when voters are wary of government overreach, it may be the savvier approach. Of course, the policy reality is more complex; most economists agree, for example, that government should spend more during a recession, not less. People understand why Christie is doing what hes doing, even if they dont always agree with every detail, Mandel says. But Christies rhetoric creates a neat frame around his entire agenda: capping property-tax growth at 2percent a year; slashing $820million in education spending; demanding that state employees contribute to their pension and health-insurance programs. But in Hackettstown, Christie shows that hes comfortable with strategic simplicity, mocking Trenton lawmakers for obsessing over bills about foreign dentures while the hard issues go unaddressed.

But he has since acknowledged missed opportunities and admitted that leadership isnt just legislation. But that was never the point. His goal was to earn public trust early on, so voters would give him the benefit of the doubt when he made more controversial changes. (A similar dynamic was at work in October when Christie, citing potential cost overruns, canceled a long-planned train tunnel between North Jersey and Manhattan.) Obama spent his early days in office administering CPR to the economy, so his options were limited. The vetoes helped Christie establish a reputation for protecting the states fiscal health, says Brigid Harrison, a politics professor at Montclair State University. In the end, the maneuver didnt save all that much money. The problem, according to the governor, was that groups like the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners were burning through too much taxpayer cash; a veto, he said, would prevent them from executing new contracts or issuing bonds. Its a matter of persuading people. A few populist gesturessay, removing earmarks from the stimulus package or restricting Wall Street bonusesmay have provided some insulation as public opinion began to cool. Christie is also a connoisseur of the symbolic gesture. Shortly after taking office last January, for example, he began to nullify the decisions of many of New Jerseys public authorities and commissions by vetoing the minutes of their meetings.

They are the villains; he is the hero. In Hackettstown, the governor recounts some of his greatest hits for the audiences amusement. He characterizes state legislators as drunks who require adult supervision. And he accuses previous governors of closing their eyes and hoping it will all go away.. Like any good prosecutor, however, the real engine of Christies success has been his calculated pursuit of enemies. When some teachers refused to accept pay freezes and contribute to their own health insurance to compensate for cuts in state aid, he accused them of using children for political purposes. When the state Senate president, a Democrat, tried to trick him into signing a bill that raised taxes on Garden Staters making more than $1 million a year (The Fairness and Justice for All Act, or something like that), he invited the state senator into his office and delivered the fastest veto on record in New Jersey history. He mocks overpaid superintendents (Imagine the arrogance!). While Obama takes pains to acknowledge the validity of his critics concerns in an effort to find common ground, Christies strategy is to use the power of the bully pulpit to make his opponents look foolish.

The goal is for the governor to have what his staff now refers to as a moment: a particularly spirited exchange that will serve as suitable fodder for Christies YouTube page and (fingers crossed) go viral. Its hard to imagine the professorial Obama pursuing or promoting smackdowns with as much gusto as the Garden State governorespecially now, with a GOP House forcing him to moderate his agenda. As the governor peels off his suit jacket and begins to take questions, he warns the crowd that he might get involved in some spirited exchanges. We love you for it! a woman shouts from the back of the room. But in the weeks and months ahead, Republicans will undoubtedly indulge in a little hypocrisyby calling for tax cuts estimated to add $700billion to the deficit over 10 years, for example, then refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Nearby, a member of Christies new-media team, the first in state history, is videotaping the proceedings. With Christie, someone always deserves the blamea conviction his aggrieved constituents seem, for now, to share. The president shouldnt be afraid to isolate, ridicule, and conquer.

But while Christie has framed the debate for maximum maneuverabilitylike his tough-talking but eminently practical hero, Ronald Reagan, who has been canonized by conservatives even though he raised taxes 12 times as presidentObama has received little credit for even his most impressive accomplishments. Otherwise, the verdict that voters deliver in 2012 may sting. He balanced the budget only by eliminating property-tax relief, they sayand his new 2percent cap is riddled with loopholes. The left, of course, likes to take similar shots at Obama. He has refused to challenge the constitutionality of Obamacare or campaign for candidates like Christine ODonnell and Sharron Angle. When it comes to policy specifics, Christie is, again, more like Obamathat is, more pragmaticthan he might seem. In blue New Jersey, conservative activists complain that the governor isnt conservative at all. If the professor in chief is going to address Americas most profound fiscal problems in the weeks and months aheadand emerge with his political capital intacthe should work to sharpen his prosecutorial skills. On his watch, spending has risen by 6percent, and he has yet to lay off a single state employee. Hes soft on cap-and-trade, and illegal immigrants, and so on.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK7PYIqOaOA&feature=youtube_gdata

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Both were elected in the midst of the Great Recession. Both sold themselves to voters as truth-telling change agents. And both plan to spend 2011 tackling the same thorny issues: education reform, public-pension stabilization, and long-term debt reduction. You wouldnt know it from looking at them, or hearing them talk, or hearing people talk about them, but Barack Obama and Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, have a lot in common. During the 2009 campaign, one Christie commercial even showed his supporters cheering and waving signs as a stirring Obama speech played on the soundtrack. Both inherited a post-apocalyptic mess from a predecessor of the opposing party.

A November Quinnipiac poll shows that 51percent of New Jerseyites approve of the governors performance, compared with only 38 percent who donta spread that has grown 12 points since June. Videos of Christie dressing down critics have captivated the conservative blogosphere. In contrast, the presidents disapproval rating (49 percent) now exceeds his approval (45 percent). Last week he scored an East Coastelite hat trick: a big story in New York magazine, a guest spot on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and (full disclosure) a NEWSWEEK correspondent at his town-hall event in Hackettstown, N.J., to report a profile. Yet with economic growth in a near stall, unemployment approaching 10percent, and experts warning of a double-dip recession, Obama is struggling to recover from the worst midterm rout in 65 yearswhile Christie, 48, is more popular than ever. Glenn Beck has compared him to common-sense porn. And Rush Limbaugh recently pondered whether it was wrong to love another man, because I love Chris Christie. Even the mainstream media have begun to fall for the hefty governor.

As his time in Trenton has proved, and as last weeks event in Hackettstown confirmed, its also the product of his distinctive approach to governing. In the Garden State, a governor can pass his agenda without a Senate supermajority, and he doesnt have to endure the same radioactive levels of scrutiny and vitriol as the commander in chief. There are many reasons Christie is outpacing Obama. But Christies success isnt solely circumstantial.

Today, Christie leads like the prosecutor he once was, identifying the crime, fingering the culprit, and methodically building a case designed to convince a jury of his peers. There are strengths and weaknesses in both approaches. Christie is who he is, says Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. From January 2002 to December 2008, Christie served as New Jerseys top federal prosecutor; earlier, Obama spent 12 years as a constitutional-law professor at the University of Chicago. The easiest way to understand why Christie has flourished and why Obama has faltered is to look at the jobs they held before entering politics. But in an age of anger and austerity, Obama may have more to learn from Christie than the other way around. If you spend years exercising your biceps, those are muscles youre going to have. Obama, meanwhile, leads like a professor, examining all angles of an issue and seeking evolutionary change by consensus.

The first lesson of Christies success: keep it simple. Within minutes of lumbering into Hackettstowns American Legion Blue Ridge Post 164, Christie has managed to sum up his agenda in less than 140 characters. Its an easy message to grasp. After all, whos to say Trenton shouldnt respond to the fiscal crisis the same way families do?. We need to spend less, borrow less, and tax less. The capacity crowd applauds. Were spending too much, borrowing too much, and taxing too much, he says.

Of course, the policy reality is more complex; most economists agree, for example, that government should spend more during a recession, not less. But in Hackettstown, Christie shows that hes comfortable with strategic simplicity, mocking Trenton lawmakers for obsessing over bills about foreign dentures while the hard issues go unaddressed. At a time when voters are wary of government overreach, it may be the savvier approach. Thats a valuable thing. Obama boasts about the size and scope of his accomplishments and refuses to reduce complex challenges to catchy soundbites. People understand why Christie is doing what hes doing, even if they dont always agree with every detail, Mandel says. But Christies rhetoric creates a neat frame around his entire agenda: capping property-tax growth at 2percent a year; slashing $820million in education spending; demanding that state employees contribute to their pension and health-insurance programs.

In the end, the maneuver didnt save all that much money. His goal was to earn public trust early on, so voters would give him the benefit of the doubt when he made more controversial changes. (A similar dynamic was at work in October when Christie, citing potential cost overruns, canceled a long-planned train tunnel between North Jersey and Manhattan.) Obama spent his early days in office administering CPR to the economy, so his options were limited. Shortly after taking office last January, for example, he began to nullify the decisions of many of New Jerseys public authorities and commissions by vetoing the minutes of their meetings. Its a matter of persuading people. A few populist gesturessay, removing earmarks from the stimulus package or restricting Wall Street bonusesmay have provided some insulation as public opinion began to cool. The vetoes helped Christie establish a reputation for protecting the states fiscal health, says Brigid Harrison, a politics professor at Montclair State University. But he has since acknowledged missed opportunities and admitted that leadership isnt just legislation. The problem, according to the governor, was that groups like the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners were burning through too much taxpayer cash; a veto, he said, would prevent them from executing new contracts or issuing bonds. Christie is also a connoisseur of the symbolic gesture. But that was never the point.

He characterizes state legislators as drunks who require adult supervision. And he accuses previous governors of closing their eyes and hoping it will all go away.. Like any good prosecutor, however, the real engine of Christies success has been his calculated pursuit of enemies. They are the villains; he is the hero. When some teachers refused to accept pay freezes and contribute to their own health insurance to compensate for cuts in state aid, he accused them of using children for political purposes. When the state Senate president, a Democrat, tried to trick him into signing a bill that raised taxes on Garden Staters making more than $1 million a year (The Fairness and Justice for All Act, or something like that), he invited the state senator into his office and delivered the fastest veto on record in New Jersey history. He mocks overpaid superintendents (Imagine the arrogance!). In Hackettstown, the governor recounts some of his greatest hits for the audiences amusement. While Obama takes pains to acknowledge the validity of his critics concerns in an effort to find common ground, Christies strategy is to use the power of the bully pulpit to make his opponents look foolish.

As the governor peels off his suit jacket and begins to take questions, he warns the crowd that he might get involved in some spirited exchanges. We love you for it! a woman shouts from the back of the room. With Christie, someone always deserves the blamea conviction his aggrieved constituents seem, for now, to share. The goal is for the governor to have what his staff now refers to as a moment: a particularly spirited exchange that will serve as suitable fodder for Christies YouTube page and (fingers crossed) go viral. Nearby, a member of Christies new-media team, the first in state history, is videotaping the proceedings. But in the weeks and months ahead, Republicans will undoubtedly indulge in a little hypocrisyby calling for tax cuts estimated to add $700billion to the deficit over 10 years, for example, then refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Its hard to imagine the professorial Obama pursuing or promoting smackdowns with as much gusto as the Garden State governorespecially now, with a GOP House forcing him to moderate his agenda. The president shouldnt be afraid to isolate, ridicule, and conquer.

In blue New Jersey, conservative activists complain that the governor isnt conservative at all. When it comes to policy specifics, Christie is, again, more like Obamathat is, more pragmaticthan he might seem. Hes soft on cap-and-trade, and illegal immigrants, and so on. But while Christie has framed the debate for maximum maneuverabilitylike his tough-talking but eminently practical hero, Ronald Reagan, who has been canonized by conservatives even though he raised taxes 12 times as presidentObama has received little credit for even his most impressive accomplishments. Otherwise, the verdict that voters deliver in 2012 may sting. On his watch, spending has risen by 6percent, and he has yet to lay off a single state employee. The left, of course, likes to take similar shots at Obama. He has refused to challenge the constitutionality of Obamacare or campaign for candidates like Christine ODonnell and Sharron Angle. If the professor in chief is going to address Americas most profound fiscal problems in the weeks and months aheadand emerge with his political capital intacthe should work to sharpen his prosecutorial skills. He balanced the budget only by eliminating property-tax relief, they sayand his new 2percent cap is riddled with loopholes.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK7PYIqOaOA&feature=youtube_gdata

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• Joe Scarborough Trashes Sarah Palin Is N.J. Gov. Chris Christie A RINO – NPR News
• On YouTube Christies Message Gets a Wide Audience – New York Times
• What Obama Can Learn From Chris Christie – Newsweek

Robert Gibbs, the press secretary for the White House, counters: "We have more interviews with more journalists at this stage of our presidency of someone else." We go too often Don 't make sense to anybody, "said Gibbs. We have a shy at the time of turn on the TV and see Barack Obama." The president said he holds press conferences to be "a major transit route, but the next will take place during the day wore on cable only, not in primetime.

. . Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, said "do not do press conferences will be considered as not having problems and that 's not true." Although the best way for a president to reach the public in the past was "through the press, seated in the first three lines in the press room of the White House .. There 's no doubt that the Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and their counterparts in the conservative can lead a story and the traditional skills of The New York Times and Washington Post. ".

The two men argued that it was risky to answer questions at meetings of the municipality, through YouTube, and the extraordinary dialogue with Republicans on the House approach of the traditional press conference. The public de l 'queries, Pfeiffer said, "no less serious and less hard than the press card from the White House body." Journalists, however, adapted to their questions and insist that the inconsistencies of the past.

Bush 's rare press conferences should not let Obama off the unquestioned practice. Reid has raised the issue with Gibbs in a statement last month, and Hearst columnist Helen Thomas, said that the president has "an obscenely long long gone, what is not.". However, an organ of the press, who regularly complains about George W. and some members of the protest.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTFzVY9qyQc&feature=youtube_gdata

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Cameron spoke in a adapted farm building and received polite applause. There was no razzmatazz. The setting could hardly have been added traditional as David Cameron launched the Conservative party’s acclamation campaign yesterday in a quiet corner of rural Oxfordshire. A small audience of Tory supporters had gathered at Sansomes Farm Studios, the home of the Oxford School of Drama. “It was a bit like a constituency event,” said an aide.

Film was prepared for YouTube. “We can just columnist the right buttons and people apperceive within seconds,” said a member of the Cameron team. Back in London, however, Cameron’s “new media” team was at work, alerting tens of thousands of followers through instant updates on Facebook and Twitter, giving them an internet link to the full speech so they could download it on their laptops, BlackBerrys or adaptable phones. The day’s main TV news bulletins were hours away but the key messages “we can’t go on like this” and “this is the year for change” were out. Political bloggers were briefed before they poured their instant assay on to the web. Campaign 2010 was under way.

Facebook was largely exceptional of and Twitter had yet to be invented. YouTube had been in existence for only three months. Blogs were in their infancy and political bloggers, now hugely influential in the flow of news, had yet to evolve. All parties acclimated email, but beyond that the internet remained undeveloped as a campaigning tool. At the last election, in May 2005, amusing networking sites were known to few.

Election 2010 will show how much the apple has afflicted and how affected acclamation outcomes now are to the unpredictability of events online. As Cameron’s speech yesterday, and Gordon Brown article’s in this paper today demonstrate, many of the issues at its heart will be familiar: the economy, schools, hospitals and crime. But the ways the main parties use technology to get their messages across to the widest possible audiences will be unrecognisable .

This time the party that really masters new media could have the decisive edge.”. Matthew McGregor, who runs the London appointment of Blue State Digital, the online campaign consultancy close which provided the technology that powered the Obama campaign, says the party that wins will be the one that learns most from the Democrats’ success. “With the acclamation narrowing, this acclamation looks increasingly tight,” he says. “The new media campaigns really matter because every single vote matters.

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