THE SECOND COMING OF CHRISTIE DOESN'T USHER IN THE MILLENIUM.

     I don't mind giving Republicans hope. People with hope think about the future. People who don't care about the future become suicide bombers or Tea Party conservatives. So, if the re-election of Chris Christie as Governor of New Jersey gives Republicans hope, I'm happy for them. The problem is that it's a completely false hope.

     As Kate Zernike and Jonathan Martin write in their front-page article in today's (11/6/13) New York Times, "Mr. Christie declared that his decisive win should be a lesson for the nation's broken political system and his feuding party." Then he bragged about winning in a state with a Democratic majority and his success among minorities, women and youth. Of the last five N.J. governors to serve full terms, three were Republican. So, beating a Democrat is not a big achievement. Christie's opponent, state sen. Barbara Buono carried Newark, the state's biggest city, which is predominantly African-American. So, his success in that respect is qualified, too.

     Speaking of Ms. Buono, let's go out on a limb and suggest that minorities and women have minds of their own and don't necessarily vote for the same race and gender.  Maybe who Christie ran against had something to do with his being elected? Considering that Barbara Buono had no name recognition and did little or no advertising, I'd say she was handi-capped and her losing was not exactly surprising. It certainly wasn't Gov. Christie's first term that helped him win. The economy in New Jersey still hasn't recovered; a year after Superstorm Sandy, rebuilding on the Jersey Shore is far from complete or even mostly done and he passionately opposed same-sex marriage until he gave up. But it's never been about New Jersey, has it?

     Chris Christie has always been outspoken about his desire to be President. The article quotes him as saying, "I know if we can do this in Trenton, N.J., then maybe the folks in Washington, D.C. should tune in their TVs right now and see how it's done." His appeal - apart from being honest about his ambition - is that in a year when Tea Party Republicans shut down the government and the GOP's popularity dipped to a single digit, a moderately conservative Republican can win. Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, puts it this way, 'We'll be led back by our governors and Chris Christie is now at the forefront of that resurgence."

     The leap from being re-elected Governor of New Jersey to being given the power to start a nuclear war is a big one, however. A lot can happen in three years, too. There is, for instance, all that state governing for Christie to neglect while he campaigns for President. Like I said, I'm not against Republicans having hope. If the Tea Party has proved anything, though, it's that there's a limit to how much even Republicans can fool themselves.