I’m about to give Chris Christie a compliment.  Shocking, I know.  To me, too.  Most of the time when I see or hear the New Jersey Governor, he strikes me as a loud-mouthed bully who seldom, if ever, stops to reconsider delivering the next offense.  Some say he’s a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy.  I think he crossed the line between being a straight arrow and being a dick a long, long time ago.  But his conduct during the Hurricane Sandy crisis has shown me there may be more to him.  

I was happy to see Governor Christie actually rein himself in in the face of Sandy.  His comments on the air, including his gratitude to and praise of  President Obama, his obvious concern for the people of his state, and his smack down of a Fox News reporter for trying to politicize the event showed that he can focus on the things that matter.  And even I have to admit that it’s good to have a tough, take charge person at the helm when the biggest storm in recorded U.S. history is headed your way.

It’s a tenuous situation, though – a truce that I’m sure will not last long.  Politics will have to re-enter the fray before long.  Still, it’s going to be hard for Christie or anyone else in the GOP to turn on the President in the next week.  If there isn’t some kind of FEMA meltdown between now and November 6, the conservatives will be stuck either being gracious and team-spirited or sitting quietly on the sidelines – perhaps holding food drives in swing states.

I don’t want to take away from my Christie kudos.  From what I’ve seen, he could have behaved very, very badly.  He didn’t and he deserves praise for that.  I just hope he keeps it up.