Chris Christie is Who He Is

Ruben Navarrett Jr. on Apr 26, 2015

This is a forum that Christie has mastered. He told the gathering in Londonderry that, since taking office in New Jersey, he has held about 130 town halls throughout the Garden State.

The governor earned applause for refusing to go along with an audience member's request to support a conscientious exemption from vaccinations. Instead, he said, he would "err on the side of protecting public health through vaccine unless that vaccine has proven to be harmful to the public."

But where Christie hit it out of the park was when he opened up and talked about his late mother, who passed away 11 years ago from lung cancer. He credits his mom for his straight-talking ways, and for being a tremendous influence in his life.

"As I enter into a national conversation, I enter into it with those traits: someone who's willing to speak their mind, who's not going to [make you] wait for deathbed confessions -- you're gonna hear it now," he said.

Christie said that, at one point, his mother gave him some great advice that continues to serve him well to this day: "Be yourself because then tomorrow you don't have to try to remember who you pretended to be yesterday."

Finally, as for being outspoken and a little rough around the edges, he told the crowd, "That's who I am and that's who I will always be because we are always part of our childhood and our parents."

That sounds honest and authentic, two words that you don't often hear used to describe politicians -- especially when they're out hunting for support and will say just about anything to get it.

Remember when Christie said that he's trying to get better every day? It's working. He's getting better.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.