The New Jersey governor punts:
Chris Christie doesn’t support gay marriage. He vetoed a bill to legalize same-sex nuptials. He has made clear where he stands repeatedly.
But for a GOP base that already views his conservative bona fides warily, his decision not to go down swinging against a court decision that has legalized gay marriage in his state could prove problematic.
Christie is clearly banking on his image as a straight-talking pragmatist if he runs an almost certain presidential campaign in 2016, and his supporters see this as in keeping with that. They say he’s already made clear he’s against gay marriage.
Christie, who faces inherent geographic suspicion with the base as a Northeastern Republican, asked the state’s acting attorney general to nix the appeal on a ruling making same-sex marriage legal in New Jersey.
The reason, according to a statement from his office? He knew he’d lose, and, the implied point goes, what’s the point in going down swinging just to make a point — especially for a former U.S. attorney?
“Chief Justice Rabner left no ambiguity about the unanimous court’s view on the ultimate decision in this matter when he wrote, same-sex couples who cannot marry are not treated equally under the law today,’” the statement from his aides said.
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