John Dickerson on Chris Christie speech: "You could almost hear the page turning"
In his State of the State address Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie touched on the George Washington Bridge scandal, but only briefly. The governor conceded "mistakes were clearly made" and promised cooperation in all inquiries. He then turned to policy issues.
CBS News political director John Dickerson told the co-hosts of "CBS This Morning" this strategy was well thought out.
"You could almost hear the page turning in that speech," Dickerson said. "The governor is now saying, 'This is important, but here are the other things I care about - education, crime.'"
Dickerson noted that many times during the 46-minute-long speech, Christie used the word "we" in talking about his administration's push on the issues moving forward.
"One thing that will be interesting to see is, as he goes forward trying to fight for these programs, will he change the way he has been effective in the past, that brusque manner that he used to boast about; have his wings been clipped a little?" Dickerson asked.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday still shows a great deal of support for Christie in New Jersey. Dickerson said that is definitely good news for the governor: "For now it looks like he's weathered that first wave of public opinion."