Christie continues launching barbs at 2016 GOP contenders

Fresh off a spat with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul over foreign policy, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is now taking swipes at other potential 2016 contenders in the GOP. This time it’s Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in his sights.

Report from CNN:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie planted himself firmly in the Republican Party’s establishment wing Thursday with a pugnacious speech calling on his party to focus on pragmatism rather than ideology and crippling internal debates.

“We are not a debating society,” Christie told a lunchtime audience at the Republican National Committees summer meeting in Boston. “We are a political operation that needs to win.”

Some of Christie’s remarks, relayed to a reporter by GOP officials who attended the closed-press event, were interpreted by many here as another jab at Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a potential rival for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

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Christie also appeared to rap Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, another potential White House hopeful who made headlines in January when he implored the GOP to “stop being the stupid party.”

“I’m not going to be one of these people who goes around and calls our party stupid,” Christie said, a startling remark given that Jindal and Christie work hand-in-hand as chairman and vice-chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Clearly Christie is running in 2016 short of an official announcement. He’s spending an awful lot of the present time trying to establish himself as the Republican to beat in the primaries and build on his reputation as a direct speaker. I’m beginning to think that he’s counting on his direct, in-your-face tone to win back conservatives who were turned off by his “embrace” of President Obama following superstorm Sandy. Very, very few politicians of any political persuasion are as confident in standing their ground especially when their views come off as harsh and/or politically incorrect.

However, Christie has a serious uphill battle with conservatives in the base of the party who aren’t too pleased with his views on several pressing issues.