Candidates: Just be yourself

Sometimes the best thing in politics is to just be yourself. 

Chris Christie was given a sharp refresher in that lesson this week when he fumbled a question on vaccinations during what was supposed to be a beneficial, headline-generating trip to London.

The problem? The usually abrasive politician’s overly calculated answer generated the wrong kind of headlines.

If any potential GOP candidate is going to shoot from the hip, you’d expect it to be the bombastic New Jersey governor.

{mosads}After all, it was Christie who told Garden State residents ahead of Hurricane Irene to “get the hell off the beach.” He once told a heckler to “sit down and shut up.” He has yelled at teachers who have questioned him in public forums.

In the United Kingdom, however, Christie waffled when confronted with the question of whether parents should vaccinate their children.

He first said that parents should have a “choice” in the matter. He later issued a statement clarifying his position, reiterating that he “believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated.”

To many observers, it appeared as if Christie was giving a nod and a wink to people who are suspicious of vaccinations, while avoiding any explicit statement that he believed them to be dangerous.

But the gambit didn’t work — in part because the weight of scientific evidence clearly debunks the anti-vaccination lobby’s claims.

As if that were not enough, a New York Times story broke during Christie’s time across the pond detailing his lavish tastes and flights onboard casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s jet.

Christie’s vaccination stumble came as he sought to placate the most conservative part of the GOP base — a constituency that views him with some skepticism. He is not the first candidate to journey down that path, nor is he the first to trip up.

Mitt Romney tried to reinvent himself during his 2008 bid for the White House, distancing himself from the more centrist positions he had held on abortion and healthcare during his time running for, and holding, office in Massachusetts.

Romney tried to do that again in 2012, and the prospect of yet another iteration in 2016 was one reason that the brief test balloon for a third Romney presidential campaign soon deflated. 

The former governor had an authenticity problem, especially during his 2012 race. Democrats successfully painted him as someone who would change his convictions to win.

The Republican’s opponents reacted with glee when his then-adviser Eric Fehrnstrom appeared to prove their point. During an interview with CNN in March 2012, Fehrnstrom said that switching from a primary campaign to a general election was “almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.” 

Christie got himself in trouble with his controversial style during the “BridgeGate” scandal, prompting accusations that he’d created a culture of intimidation in which aides might have thought it was acceptable to seek retribution against the Fort Lee mayor who wouldn’t endorse him.

Maybe that’s why the media is seeing a more thoughtful Christie. Some caution is expected, but if it costs him his sense of authenticity, that spells big problems.

Christie’s misstep was magnified by comments from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who also found himself in hot water over vaccines — and seemed to backpedal better than Christie.

The skepticism from the libertarian-leaning senator wasn’t that surprising. Paul first noted in a testy CNBC interview that he had heard of “many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children, who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.”

But, amid criticism, he turned the tables on Tuesday, tweeting out a picture of himself getting his hepatitis A booster.

It may have been a nakedly political ploy, but it was a smart one. 

The candidate who might test the bounds of authenticity most this cycle could be Jeb Bush, though.

The former Florida governor famously said if he did pursue a presidential campaign, a candidate should be willing to “lose the primary to win the general without violating your principles.”

He was true to that promise when, in his first major policy address on Wednesday in Detroit, he reiterated his support for education reforms similar to Common Core and immigration reform — both anathema to the conservative base.

That’s still not going to play well with conservatives in Iowa and South Carolina, so his efforts may be for naught.

But Jeb Bush has made clear he’s going to be Jeb Bush. The question is, will Chris Christie be Chris Christie in the coming months?