By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Governor Chris Christie‘s made-for-YouTube roadshow is pulling into Middletown next week.
The pugnacious darling of the GOP is planning a pit stop at the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars post in the Port Monmouth section of town Wednesday morning, Mayor Anthony Fiore tells redbankgreen.
Should we expect name-calling and finger-pointing? Not from Middletown’s all-Republican township committee, which has taken a shine to Christie’s no-nonsense approach to getting New Jersey’s finances back on track.
“I’m sure the governor realizes that Middletown and the voters have been supportive of his ideas and him,” he said. “It’s definitely a benefit for us, for residents, to have access to him.”
But questioners at Christie appearances have turned prickly, giving him opportunities to add to his “video library of gubernatorial smackdowns,” many of which get added to his YouTube channel, New York magazine reported recently.
Fiore said he’s unsure if Christie has a particular agenda for his visit, but he suspects it will be similar to most of his town hall meetings he’s held throughout the state: discussing the property tax cap, health and retirement reforms, the mayor’s toolkit.
“I’m sure he’ll be pushing his agenda for the toolkit,” said committeeman and former mayor Gerry Scharfenberger. “At least I hope he’ll talk about the toolkit.”
Fiore said Christie’s town halls tend to draw about 300 people, and he expects about the same turnout on Wednesday. The forum gets started at 11a, and is free and open to the public.
