Chris Christie: A+
Since all great speeches should have a title, I’m naming it “Chris Christie’s Retribution Speech.”
To make a memorable argument in a debate, you need at least three things. First, the issue being debated has to be salient. Second, you need to lock down your position with good examples and evidence. Finally, your delivery is crucial. But even that’s not enough. For an argument to stand out in a debate, it must contain all three of those elements — and it must be a position not yet heard by the debating audience.
The “Chris Christie Retribution Speech” met all the criteria.
First: was the topic salient? Indeed it was, and the former governor of New Jersey knew it. Here’s part of his answer when asked what he thought of former President Donald Trump’s comments this week, that if elected again he would be a dictator only on “day one.”
“Completely predictable,” said Christie. “This is an angry, bitter man, who now wants to be back as president because he wants to exact retribution on anyone who has disagreed with him, anyone who has tried to hold him to account for his own conduct…. Do I think he was kidding when he said he was a dictator? All you have to do is look at the history…”
The history where Trump was overtly subverted and contained, to the extent a book was written about it by an anonymous white house insider? That history of dictatorship?
Second: Christie’s reasoning was solid, and his explanation of Trump’s popularity was smart debating. He took a weakness (Trump is polling way higher than Christie) and turned it into an attack on his debate opponents. Christie continued, “You want to know why those poll numbers are where they are? Because folks like these three guys on stage make it seem like his conduct is acceptable.”
A populist figurehead would be less popular if more elites hated him? Interesting theory. Dumb, but interesting.
Third: You really need to watch his delivery. It’s a 2-minute speech, and it’s glorious. Watch Christie’s nonverbal movement and listen to his cadence. Hear the phrases and where Christie places the emphasis. One line stands out: Trump’s phrase of “I am your retribution,” when quoted by Christie, was chilling.
Christie might have just given the single most important speech in presidential debating history. It was certainly the finest.
This is what TDS looks like, and the value judgments extruded when such a mind is in full sway of the disorder. Finest speech in the history of presidential debates indeed. I imagine any given Orange Man Bad meme would give this person a big belly laugh. Finest humor ever.
