Gov. Christie launches campaign for president

Associated Press

LIVINGSTON, N.J.

A tough-talking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launched his 2016 campaign for president Tuesday with a promise to tell voters the truth even if it makes them cringe.

The Republican governor, a one-time GOP favorite who faded and now tries to climb back, lashed out at “bickering leaders” from both political parties in a kickoff rally in the gymnasium of his old high school. And in his trademark blunt style, he told voters – and warned Republican rivals – that he’s ready to be aggressive in the 2016 contest.

“You’re going to get what I think whether you like it or not, or whether it makes you cringe every once in a while or not,” Christie declared. He added: “I am now ready to fight for the people of the United States of America.”

He went on to a town-hall meeting in Sandown, N.H., receiving enthusiastic applause from the standing-room crowd as he arrived with his family. “I want to be the next president of the United States, and I intend to win this election,” he told the meeting, which took place in an actual town hall.

Christie already has held nearly a dozen town halls in New Hampshire, a state key to his hopes, and plans more as he spends the next week in the state.

Christie enters a Republican presidential field that already has more than a dozen GOP candidates. Not all draw as much attention as Christie, who will compete for the same slice of the electorate as pragmatic-minded White House hopefuls such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

But it’s an accomplished lineup of governors, senators and business people. Christie’s effort is largely driven by his outsized personality, and his resume, while notable, contains scattered land mines that have given many Republicans pause.