THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

At the 2008 Republican Convention in Minnesota, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Todd_Whitman

http://www.ontheissues.org/Christie_Todd_Whitman.htm

While she is considered by many to be a “moderate” republican, there was nothing moderate about her 30% tax cut that allowed her to throw her opponent out on his tax raising liberal keister.

She is a conservative in the truest sense of the word, in addition to being an incredibly nice human being. She is warm, funny, and just pleasant to be around. Her staff had very kind words about her behind her back, but my impression was that Governor Whitman is a sincere person. There was not a hint of any airs about her.

After asking her about the standard boilerplate issues that I cover in most of my interviews, there was one thing I really wanted to know about.

When she was a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman, a bizarre thing happened. He asked her to dance the waltz. I remember just watching television as he took her by the hand, and next thing you know they are slow dancing on camera. It was just…different. She handled herself with class and dignity.

As far as being a Governor, she showed that the key to republicans succeeding in states that are liberal is to focus on economics and crime. She did not spend time fighting the culture wars. She cut taxes, and was tough on crime. She was a Governor before the War on Terror began, but her crime policies were largely successful.

While we are now in 2009, the 2008 interview was a joy.

With that, I bring my interview with Governor Whitman.

1) What are the most important issues of 2008?

CW: “The economy, the war, and the environment. The environment also includes our energy policy.”

2) Who are your 3 favorite political heroes?

CW: “My heroes are Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, and my father.”

3) How would you like to be remembered 100 years from now? What would you want people to say about Christie Whitman the person?

CW: “I would like to be seen as somebody that put policy above partisanship. I worked with people to get things done.”

4) Was there any fallout from your dancing on the Late Show with David Letterman? Does anything need to be done about Dave, and should the Government intervene?

CW: “It was fine but it was not wild dancing with Letterman. He doesn’t get wild on the dance floor like I like to do. With him it was tame, calm dancing.”

As much as she laughed at my question, I laughed at her answer. As I said, she is funny and good natured.

One other memory I have of her, which I did not share with her, came in 1996. When Bob Dole was the Presidential nominee, the letter “W” was prominent in the moderate wing of the party. While our current “W” is a conservative, the “W Group” in 1996 consisted of Pete Wilson, William Weld, and Christie Whitman.

I bring this up because when 12 potential Vice Presidential Candidates were asked about being Vice President on a ticket with Dole, they all pretended not to want the job. The media then asked a tough question. If the job of Vice President were to be offered to them, how many of them would refuse?

Only Governor Whitman raised her hand. For whatever her reasons, she stood apart at that moment, refusing to join the other pandering 11. She was not interested in playing the game. Her lighthearted manner did not prevent her from being very serious about what she wanted, which was to turn New Jersey around from an outrageously high tax state to a more livable state.

I wish Governor Whitman an enjoyable quality of life, because as a New Yorker with many friends living in New Jersey, I can attest that a better quality of life is what she brought to New Jersey.

eric

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 at 3:16 pm and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.