LE MARS, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie barnstormed Sunday across the Hawkeye State, pressing flesh and fielding questions as he labored to beat back charges that he is an East Coast liberal.
With two weeks until Iowa’s leadoff nominating contest, he is caught among a pack of mainstream GOP candidates battling for strong finish in Iowa that could propel them into contention in New Hampshire.
Mr. Christie has been hit, most recently by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in last week’s debate — for presiding over a solid blue state with tough gun laws and Common Core education standards, and for once supporting Planned Parenthood.
Voters raised all these issues for Mr. Christie at a town hall-style meeting here at Blue Bunny Ice Cram Parlor & Museum. He was ready to rebut every charge, explaining that firearm restrictions and Common Core were in place when he took office and he vetoed added gun laws and recently eliminated the federal education rules.
Still, the questions revealed that Mr. Rubio’s attacks are on voters’ minds in the run-up to the Feb. 1 caucuses.
“I’m the first pro-life governor in the state of New Jersey,” he said in response to a question about his views on abortion. “I defunded Planned Parenthood. I didn’t talk about it. I did it in New Jersey for six years.”
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Mr. Christie, who switched from pro-choice to pro-life in 1995, went further and said pro-life policies should extend to supporting treatment for drug addicts and opposing suicide and euthanasia.
“I believe it is God who makes those choices about when a life ends,” said the governor.
On several occasions, Mr. Christie highlighted his faith as he traveled a state where evangelical voters hold sway. Earlier, as he worked the dining room at a Perkins restaurant in Milford, Iowa, the talk turned to the -10 degree temperature outside.
“Whatever God gives you, you deal with it,” Mr. Christie said.
Trailing far behind front-runners Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Mr. Christie has embarked on an aggressive schedule of traditional face-to-face campaigning in Iowa to argue that his experience differentiates him from the other candidates and best qualifies him to be the Republican standard-bearer.
At the town hall, he took swipes at Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz, though without naming them, instead warning against electing another first-term senator like President Obama. He also warned that country doesn’t need an “entertainer-in-chief,” an unmistakable reference to Mr. Trump.
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“Showtime is over. It’s game time and the rest of the country is counting on you,” he told the crowd of about 250 people in the room, asking for their vote in the caucuses.
Mr. Christie has said he is aiming to beat the other governors in the Iowa contest, pitting himself against Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who are all lumped together at the middle of the pack with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
And yet, Mr. Christie has tangled with Mr. Rubio, who is running in third-place in most Iowa polls.
The Christie campaign is convinced that when people meet the governor, they like him. And the campaign is putting Mr. Christie in front of as many as possible in the final stretch of the Iowa race.
“I’m a former football coach and I like his linebacker personality. He takes the issues head-on,” said Ron Robinson, 75, who met Mr. Christie at Perkins restaurant.
He said that Mr. Christie’s blue state tenure was a plus, giving him experience working with Democrats and maybe helping him break Washington gridlock. Mr. Christie makes the same argument.
“We need someone who can do this on day one, someone who doesn’t have to read the owner’s manual,” Mr. Christie said at the town hall.
Several undecided voters left the event saying Mr. Christie made a good impression and might win their vote at the caucuses.
“I agree with all he said about experience. The presidency shouldn’t be a learning period,” said David Brown, 20, a Wal-Mart customer service manager.
Mary Albrecht, 47, a homemaker with four children, said she was impressed by Mr. Christie and he helped cement her impression of Mr. Rubio.
“He reminded me of something I’ve been concerned about, that he is a first-term senator,” she said. “I worry that he doesn’t have the chops.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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