Democrats slam Christie, Branstad

DES MOINES - A top national Democrat took a double-barreled shot Thursday at Republicans Chris Christie of New Jersey and Terry Branstad of Iowa, saying they are governors who are using New Jersey-style political retribution against their detractors.

R.T. Rybak, a former Minneapolis mayor who is vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Christie was in Iowa 'trying to revive the sagging presidential aspirations” by convincing Iowans he knew nothing about a political payback scandal in New Jersey that has dogged him.

Rybak said Christie has used 'one gimmick after the other” in dodging the 'Bridegate” lane closure controversy by going on television to project himself as 'a straight-talking guy and then (he) disappears into the Statehouse and plays retribution politics.”

'We all know what he did with the bridge in New Jersey. We all know that he's trying to come to Iowa and pretend that he knew nothing about the fact that he tried to stop political opponents by taking it out on the commuters of the state that he's supposed to represent,” Rybak said at a news conference on the west steps of the Iowa Capitol complex.

Likewise, former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge told reporters, Branstad is trying to stay on as the longest-serving governor in U.S. history by convincing Iowans he was unaware of so-called 'hush money” payments to laid-off state employees, a state vehicle in which he was traveling at excessive speed and other controversies.

'Branstad has created a culture that enables his aides to use the power of government to extract political retribution while he pretends to have no clue,” said Judge, who called Branstad the 'poster child for a cozy, crony-friendly political administration and believes that he has to answer to no one.”

Democrats took aim at the two GOP governors on a day when Christie was in Iowa - the state that kicks off the 2016 presidential selection process - to raise money for the Republican Governors Association, Branstad and other Iowa Republicans during stops in Waukee, Marion and Davenport.

'As the scandals continue to grow in the Branstad administration, it's fitting that when you practice New Jersey-style politics in Iowa you might as well invite a New Jersey pol right here into the state itself,” Rybak said.

'The governor in your state and the governor of New Jersey are increasingly governors who seem to be approaching government the same way - that if you're friends are with you, that's a good thing, but if you're not a friend of the governor, you're in a lot of trouble,” he added. 'That might work in New Jersey but here, in the Midwest, it's not what we're used to.”

Christie's trip to Iowa was viewed as an effort to bolster his political stock, but Rybak said the New Jersey governor does not appear to be a major threat for Democrats in 2016. He said he doubted that Christie could win the GOP nomination.

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