Shaq endorses Chris Christie, calls gov. a 'great man'
By Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on October 27, 2013 at 2:48 PM, updated October 27, 2013 at 7:05 PM
Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal met with Gov. Chris Christie met at his office in the Statehouse in Trenton. Shaq has endorsed Christie's reelection Newark-native and basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal has thrown his support to Christie, calling the governor "a great man."
The endorsement was first reported by The Daily Beast.
The 30-second spot features O'Neal talking straight to the camera, explaining his support.
"I don’t endorse many politicians. But Chris Christie is different," O'Neal said. "Governor Christie’s provided more funding for schools, given parents more choices in what schools their kids can go to, and merit pay for good teachers."
The two men met last March to talk about how O'Neal might help with the state's ongoing gun buyback programs being led by the attorney general, and O'Neal has takenan interest in civic affairs since his retirement in 2011.
The endorsement comes less than two weeks before the Nov. 5 election. Christie enjoys a substantial lead over his Democrat rival Barbara Buono, according to polls, but many believe the governor hopes to run up the score in advance of a possible presidential run.
No Republican has won more than 50 percent of the vote statewide in a generation and Christie hopes to change that. Endorsements are a key part of his strategy and Chrisite has racked up celebrities as well as several Democrat mayors across the state.
His strategy also involves reaching out to traditionally Democratic voters in minority communities.
"When we have the country looking at us … what they’re going to see is a coalition supporting the governor like no other Republican has anywhere in the country," Christie recently told a group of supporters in Dover. "Hispanic voters, African-American voters, members of the building trades unions, people who live in the suburbs, people who live in cities, people who live on our farms, in the north of our state, in the central part and in the south. We’re putting together a broad coalition of people who are speaking out really loudly and saying we can work together and America needs to do this differently."
No comments:
Post a Comment