File this under the category of "past performance predicts future behavior."
During a lengthy press conference yesterday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced he had fired his deputy chief of staff and removed a top political adviser for their roles in creating traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge for four days last September, presumably as a way to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee. (You can find excellent background information here, watch the press conference here, or read the transcript here.) Because Gov. Christie is one of the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, much of the reporting has focused on the damage this scandal may have on his chances. And both John Sides at The Monkey Cage and Johnathan Bernstein at Bloomberg discuss the impact the scandal may have on the invisible primary—Christie's ability to raise money and secure key endorsements that make or break a nomination.
Although it's natural to consider how this incident affects his chances for the Republican nomination, I'm more interested in what it reveals about a potential Chris Christie presidency. For example, we knew during the 1992 campaign that Bill Clinton was a womanizer (see Gennifer Flowers), so it's not surprising that as President he continued that behavior with Monica Lewinsky. And we knew during the 2008 campaign that Barack Obama lacked executive experience (see 3AM Phone Call), so it's not surprising that we've witnessed a botched rollout of Obamacare. It's in this light that we should consider Gov. Christie's press conference yesterday.