For Christie and 2 Senators, Animus Is Mutual

[Kire]

For Christie and 2 Senators, Animus Is Mutual
NYTimes - By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Published: September 29, 2011

When floods ravaged New Jersey in August, the state’s three top elected officials — Gov. Chris Christie and Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez — joined President Obama in touring damaged areas.

It was the most time either senator had ever spent in the governor’s company.

Encounters between a state’s governor and its senators are inevitable, whether at a disaster or at a Chamber of Commerce dinner, but the officials usually seek each other out for private talks about conflicts and shared goals. So the last time Mr. Christie and the state’s senior senator had such a chat was when?

“Never,” Mr. Lautenberg, a Democrat, said in an interview just before the floods. “We haven’t talked, other than just bumping into one another. We’ve never had a serious conversation about New Jersey’s needs. Never.”

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/nyregion/for-christie-and-2-nj-senators-no-love-lost.html?_r=1