Senator Ted Cruz. Governor Chris Christie. Neither man lacks for confidence. Or ambition. Both are fighting for a shot to take on the Democratic challenger in the 2016 presidential race. And both had widely talked about moments during the CNBC debate that came via their attacks on the media. This week, NJPR’s Matt Katz and special guest Ben Philpott from KUT’s The Ticket 2016 podcast, join us for an in-depth look at two forceful candidates who have been struggling to be heard in a crowded primar...
Nov 04, 2015•20 min•Ep. 41
52 times the New Jersey legislature attempted to override a Christie veto. 52 times it ended in failure, with nearly every Republican legislator voting against an override. But streaks are meant to be broken. And this time things were different. NJPR’s Matt Katz and Bergen Record columnist Charles Stile join us to consider what this moment means for New Jersey. Also: The New York Times editorial board called Christie’s comments about the Black Lives Matter movement “racially poisonous.” And much...
Oct 28, 2015•21 min•Ep. 40
Is the campaign money bag half full or half empty? Or wait, maybe the bag is just way too small. Reaction to the first fundraising reports from Governor Christie's presidential campaign varied. Christie's team said they were pleased about how much money they had. Pundits called it a disappointing haul. NJPR's Matt Katz says "It's what you would expect from someone who is now clearly a second-tier candidate." This week, Matt joins host David Furst to assess the state of the finances. Also: We add...
Oct 21, 2015•20 min•Ep. 39
To understand Chris Christie you need to consider his Bruce Springsteen obsession. Come on, the man has been to over 130 Bruce shows. This week, the Christie Tracker Podcast looks at Christie, the Springsteen super fan – who follows Bruce to shows, writes about him on message boards and trades tapes with fellow fans. New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz guides us through Christie’s life of worship at the Church of Springsteen and explains why messages posted 15 years ago shed light on the governo...
Oct 14, 2015•26 min•Ep. 38
It’s enough to make a guy want to spend some quality campaign time in New Hampshire. Governor Christie spent much of last week preparing for a natural disaster. But as Joaquin headed out to sea, the governor was stuck at a storm press conference in south Jersey – trying to avoid questions about a resigning cabinet member. Departing Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox had been the subject of multiple news reports linking him to both the Bridgegate and the Chairman’s Flight scandals. So a week t...
Oct 07, 2015•19 min•Ep. 37
Jamie Fox. Christie cabinet member, former United Airlines lobbyist, long-time New Jersey political operative. Oh, and a guy with connections to both the Bridgegate and the Chairman's Flight scandals. NJPR’s Matt Katz joins host David Furst to talk about his reporting on a man who has somehow avoided the scrutiny of legislators investigating Bridgegate. Fox worked for three out of the last four Democratic governors. He’s currently Christie’s transportation commissioner. Matt says even though he ...
Sep 30, 2015•14 min•Ep. 36
After a few weeks as "The Law and Order Guy" and "That Guy Who Wants to Use FedEx to Track Immigrants," Governor Christie is shape-shifting again. This time, he's the Common Man of the People and Defender of the Middle Class. NJPR's Matt Katz and the Star-Ledger's Tom Moran join host David Furst to discuss the latest message from the campaign trail, and how this one might actually work better. We'll also explain what Governor Christie has done to weaken the state's Election Law Enforcement Commi...
Sep 23, 2015•23 min•Ep. 35
The scrapheap of officials laid to waste by Bridgegate and its spin-off scandals expanded last week to include three United Airlines executives. United says the resignations are related to the investigation into the airline’s dealings with the Port Authority – and with former Port Authority Chair, David Samson, an appointee and close confidante of Governor Christie. Samson is under investigation for getting favors from the airline in exchange for lower costs for United at the Port Authority owne...
Sep 16, 2015•16 min•Ep. 34
It's hard to pinpoint exactly why Governor Christie’s presidential campaign hasn’t caught fire. But his decline in the polls started with a traffic jam back on September 9th, 2013. Two years later, we consider what we still don't know about Bridgegate. Host David Furst is joined by Andrea Bernstein , Senior Editor for Politics & Policy for WNYC News and Tom Moran , Editorial Page Editor for The Star-Ledger . Here's the scenario. The governor has been given a healthy dose of truth serum. And ...
Sep 09, 2015•18 min•Ep. 33
The summer of 2013. It doesn’t seem that distant. But it might as well be a political lifetime ago for Chris Christie. This was post-Sandy and pre-Bridgegate. The governor was soaring in the polls and coasting to reelection. Today? According to New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz , the guy who never had a hard time getting attention is fighting for crumbs from the national press. He says, “It seems like this magic he had to make headlines, to cut through the noise, is lost.” Matt joins us for a ...
Sep 02, 2015•18 min•Ep. 32
Watching TV this month, you'd be forgiven for feeling like someone slipped something funny in your tea. It's no shock that Governor Christie has aggressively taken on Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. What is surprising is that he willingly offered up his own behavior during the Bridgegate investigation as a point of comparison. The same guy who deleted texts sent while a legislative hearing into the lane closures was taking place, says on CNN: "Can you imagine if after the bridge investigation b...
Aug 26, 2015•16 min•Ep. 31
With Mike DuHaime the ballot box is never half-empty. While much of the media has been posting death notices for the Chris Christie campaign, Mike DuHaime, Chief Strategist for his presidential run, joins us to offer a different view. As New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz puts it, he is “the guy you want to talk to if you’re on your death bed - he’s extremely optimistic.” But Mike DuHaime has been down before. While pundits salivate over Donald Trump’s surge in the polls and Jeb Bush’s massive ...
Aug 19, 2015•15 min•Ep. 30
It was a crowded stage of ten hopeful Republican candidates. But after the dust settled, Christie found a way to stand out from the pack. New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz and Tom Wilson, former Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee say Christie's presentation of policy ideas and his willingness to mix-it-up helped distinguish the governor in the first televised debate of the Republican primary season. Matt and Tom join host David Furst for a post-debate special edition of the ...
Aug 07, 2015•11 min•Ep. 29
This week, we learned about the $11 million raised by America Leads, the super PAC supporting Christie. We also found out who's been forking over all that cash. New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz joins Host David Furst for a look at several donors with close business ties to the state. New Jersey has pay-to-play restrictions that are designed to prevent businesses from currying favors with the governor. But here’s the catch: they don’t apply to federal elections. Matt Katz says, "You have the s...
Aug 05, 2015•23 min•Ep. 28
"I like Governor Christie." "He tells it like it is and he seems like a regular person... he just appeals to me." "I'm so fascinated with Chris Christie and everything he's doing... he speaks from the heart – everything he says is just 100% genuine." "He seems... like he would actually protect our country – I would feel safe with him being a president. What I'm looking for in a president is to feel safe." The voices of New Hampshire residents at Christie town hall events seem to fly in the face ...
Jul 29, 2015•20 min•Ep. 27
Trump? There’s so much about the primary that isn’t going Christie's way. But he certainly didn’t expect to suddenly be the mild, more-restrained candidate in the race. This week, New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz and Paul Mulshine , conservative columnist for the Star-Ledger, join us to talk about what Donald Trump's ascendency means for the Christie campaign. With Trump generating so much attention, Matt says Christie has been 'totally outshined.' He says Christie's 'Tell It Like It Is' bran...
Jul 22, 2015•17 min•Ep. 26
Gov. Chris Christie wants the media to apologize for their Bridgegate coverage. So we called reporters. The only person we could find to say he's "sorry" is Bob Garfield of On the Media . On the way to his apology, he places Christie among a long line of Republicans who have used the media to curry public opinion. We also speak with New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz and Tom Moran, editorial page editor of the Star Ledger , who tells us about a man who found himself in a Christie presidential c...
Jul 15, 2015•16 min•Ep. 25
Governor Christie announced he was officially running for president last week then immediately hit the road. He continued his never-ending tour of New Hampshire. He blanketed the airwaves - making appearances on NBC, CBS, Fox News and MSNBC. One place where we’re NOT seeing him much is New Jersey. So what happens to that state now that Christie is really running? New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz says, "There's just simply a lot less governing going on." Also on this week's show, host David Fu...
Jul 08, 2015•17 min•Ep. 24
It was the least suspenseful cliffhanger in the history of cliffs. Governor Christie has, essentially, been running for higher office for years. But now he is, officially, a presidential candidate. This week, we head to Livingston High School for analysis on the announcement from New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz and the Star-Ledger's Tom Moran. We're also joined by Robert Costa, national political reporter for the Washington Post . He’s seen a few national campaign launches and provides some ...
Jul 01, 2015•14 min•Ep. 23
Governor Christie's record on guns was already facing heavy scrutiny before the events of June 17th, when nine people were shot and killed in the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. In early June, Governor Christie traveled to South Carolina where he tried to gain credibility with the gun rights crowd - claiming that no new gun laws were made in New Jersey since he became governor. And in New Jersey he recently pardoned two people for illegally transporting guns in the state. Sound...
Jun 24, 2015•20 min•Ep. 22
Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Governor Chris Christie doesn't have to make full payments into the state pension system. “We just won a major court decision, supporting the pension reforms that we put into place in 2011," Gov. Christie said on ABC’s This Week . But the Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran explains how that's the opposite of what happened. Also on the podcast this week: New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz says the Bridgegate scandal might have had a surprising effect on th...
Jun 17, 2015•15 min•Ep. 21
The Mastro Report versus The Fishman Indictments. Sure, it sounds like a showdown between the two most boring intramural kickball teams ever. But no. Governor Christie says the Mastro report, which was commissioned by him, was the last word on the GWB lane closure scandal. And he says the investigation and recent indictments by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman offered nothing new. But New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz joins host David Furst to break down the differences - and to explain why the Mast...
Jun 10, 2015•19 min•Ep. 20
Over the past couple of weeks, Governor Christie has been offering an aggressive defense of the Patriot Act - stressing that he has personally used it to prosecute terrorists in his role as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. But how has he used it? And have his actions made the world a safer place? This week on the podcast we’re joined by New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz and Reporter Petra Bartosiewicz who produced an hour-long documentary for This American Life on the conviction of Hemant Lakhani...
Jun 03, 2015•19 min•Ep. 19
For the past two years Steve Kornacki has been the host of the weekend morning show Up with Steve Kornacki on MSNBC. But he got his start working for the political news site Politics NJ (now Politicker NJ) - - when it was run by David Wildstein. The same David Wildstein who pleaded guilty to charges related to the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. According to Kornacki, Wildstein remained anonymous throughout his time there. Speaking with Christie Tracker Podcast host David Furst , ...
May 27, 2015•20 min•Ep. 18
President Obama arrived in Camden, New Jersey, to trumpet a drop in violent crime and to highlight the city as a “symbol of promise,” where the local police force is working positively with the community. This week on the Christie Tracker Podcast, New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz and the Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran dig into story behind the crime numbers in Camden. At the same time Obama was shining a spotlight on Jersey, Governor Christie – who made Camden crime stats a big part of his 2015 stat...
May 20, 2015•17 min•Ep. 17
Gov. Christie is stopping at diners, holding town halls and pressing the flesh in weekly trips to New Hampshire to convince voters that he’s a viable candidate. New Jersey Public Radio’s Matt Katz joins us this week to break-down the governor’s recent visit. He says even with all the coverage Christie got on the trip, it was trumped by a fat-shaming media free-for-all. $300,000 for snacks at MetLife Stadium? Click here! Also this week: Charges? Maybe we don’t need no stinkin’ charges. Jonathan R...
May 13, 2015•17 min•Ep. 16
After a year-and-a-half of traffic jams, emails, texts, legislative hearings, political casualties and late night TV mockery, Bridgegate has its first criminal charges. But there was so much that wasn't revealed when the indictments were announced. Based on what we know about the administration’s involvement, why were only three Christie associates charged? When did the governor find out the lane closures weren’t really part of a traffic study? How many others were in on the planning? “It’s like...
May 06, 2015•24 min•Ep. 15
Do scandals linger longer in the public memory when they have great nicknames? If so, this one isn't going anywhere. “The Chairman’s Flight" was the sparsely-traveled United Airlines flight, that ran from Newark to South Carolina - allegedly requested by former Port Authority Chairman David Samson to make it easier to fly off to his weekend retreat. Samson was appointed chairman by Governor Christie and resigned in the wake of investigations after the Fort Lee lane closures. It was a job where h...
Apr 29, 2015•18 min•Ep. 14
Chris Christie finally brought his famous town hall format to the campaign trail. The Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran says “it’s about time.” The latest polls on the governor’s chances in a presidential race are brutal. But Christie’s events in New Hampshire drew big crowds and lots of attention from reporters. And while voters in the Granite State took a second look at the (almost) candidate, Christie unveiled Social Security reform proposals, a nuanced position on immigration and unleashed some tough ...
Apr 22, 2015•18 min•Ep. 13
The Manhattan District Attorney is looking into a contract between the Port Authority and a company co-owned by Dallas Cowboys magnate Jerry Jones, who gave Gov. Chris Christie free trips to see his team play. But that didn't stop Christie from making a three-day trip to New Hampshire to make his case to be the next president of the United States. Even if he says he hasn't decided to run yet. New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz reports from New Hampshire. We also hear from Wall Street Journal re...
Apr 15, 2015•15 min•Ep. 12
