Chris Christie will likely leave office with one of the worst approval ratings for any New Jersey Governor. Does his Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno have any chance of succeeding him?
Perhaps. She's tried to keep her distance after the Bridgegate scandal and his allegiance to Donald Trump damaged him in the blue Garden State. Her announcement video makes sure to leave his name out of it, as well as her current title of Lieutenant Governor.
Guadagno does begin with a reliable message in New Jersey campaigns: taxes are bad. As New Jersey voters watch her on TVs, tablets, laptops and smartphones, Guadagno says, "After traveling the state of New Jersey, I've never seen a tax that kept a family in New Jersey or kept a business in New Jersey."
She takes a shot at political elites, "Somehow, we begin to believe that we know the answers better than they do." And we see her tell the listeners of a radio show that she makes her cell phone number publicly available, "so that we can follow up on the problems that real people are having in New Jersey." And at the end of the ad, we see an iPhone ring with the caller ID showing, "Kim Guadagno, Your Next Governor."
But while Guadagno doesn't acknowledge Christie or use her title, the ad does admit that she is a politician, at a time when being a politician is often seen as a negative: "I got involved in politics and public service because of my children. I saw something in my small community that I didn't like ... I could stand up and do something about it or sit down and shut up." Time will tell if that amounts to a clean enough break from the New Jersey political establishment to win in this environment.
Perhaps. She's tried to keep her distance after the Bridgegate scandal and his allegiance to Donald Trump damaged him in the blue Garden State. Her announcement video makes sure to leave his name out of it, as well as her current title of Lieutenant Governor.
Guadagno does begin with a reliable message in New Jersey campaigns: taxes are bad. As New Jersey voters watch her on TVs, tablets, laptops and smartphones, Guadagno says, "After traveling the state of New Jersey, I've never seen a tax that kept a family in New Jersey or kept a business in New Jersey."
She takes a shot at political elites, "Somehow, we begin to believe that we know the answers better than they do." And we see her tell the listeners of a radio show that she makes her cell phone number publicly available, "so that we can follow up on the problems that real people are having in New Jersey." And at the end of the ad, we see an iPhone ring with the caller ID showing, "Kim Guadagno, Your Next Governor."
But while Guadagno doesn't acknowledge Christie or use her title, the ad does admit that she is a politician, at a time when being a politician is often seen as a negative: "I got involved in politics and public service because of my children. I saw something in my small community that I didn't like ... I could stand up and do something about it or sit down and shut up." Time will tell if that amounts to a clean enough break from the New Jersey political establishment to win in this environment.