Christie as Veep Would Be Trump Times Two

After what may have been weeks of McDonald's runs for presidential hopeful Donald Trump, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may be finally getting the thanks he's been waiting for. The Associated Press reported Friday that along with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Christie is on Trump's increasingly shorter vice presidential list.

While this might be the trajectory Christie has been hoping for since he declared his loyalty to Trump not actually all that long after he lambasted him in the GOP primary race, it might just be the opposite of what many Americans want — namely, more Trump. Many have pointed out that Trump and Christie have similarly, shall we says, bombastic attitudes. According to their campaign messaging and Twitter accounts, Trump is a “winner,” while Christie is a “fighter.” Trump has had it with “political correctness,” while Christie “tells it like it is.” It’s not a far cry to say that a Trump-Christie ticket would be more like a ticket of the Trump twins.

When looking at their economic records, Christie on the ticket would mean two men with bad business skills begging for votes. Despite all of Trump’s bragging, he’s a record of defaulting on debt and reeling in bankruptcy, and reports found that he could have had much more money today if he had simply put his money away in index funds 30 years ago. And Christie? According to Heather Long at CNNMoney, in 2015, he made barely meager strides towards improving the economy of his home state during his governorship, and he left New Jersey before his campaign with a “creditworthiness rating cut several times” since he assumed office. In May of this year, Atlantic City found itself seemingly days away from bankruptcy.

In terms of temperament, their similarities are even more conspicuous. As Kate Zernike of the New York Times pointed out, they’re both “polarizing and self-regarding,” and in the words of former Bush administration member, Alan Steinberg, “have very immense egos.” Perhaps even prophesizing the future, Steinberg told the New York Times, “They think they can just bully their way through. … It’s the perfect bromance.” Or, as Vox's Andrew Prokop noted, "Personality-wise and regionally, he [Christie] adds nothing to the ticket, since, like Trump, he is a loud and obnoxious Northeasterner."

I'm sure I'm not the only one who looks at a Trump-Christie ticket and thinks, "That doesn't look good."