The Republican stars aligned in New York Monday night, as six rumored presidential hopefuls, including Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Sen. Rand Paul, attended an RNC fundraiser at the home of New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
Gov. Scott Walker, Gov. Rick Snyder, and Rep. Paul Ryan also attended the high-profile event, which aimed to raise money for the RNC and was co-hosted by chair Reince Priebus. With such a lineup of GOP superstars, all wings of the party were represented.
Jets owner Woody Johnson is no stranger to presidential fundraising. In 2012, Johnson lead Mitt Romney’s fundraising effort in New York City, emerging as one of GOP’s most important donors in that election. Johnson is the heir to the Johnson & Johnson family fortune, but football seems to be what shapes his thinking.
“The caucus-goer, the primary-goer, is like, in football, the fan that is avid,” Johnson told Politicker last July, explaining Romney’s poor performance in the primaries. “The avidity level is higher. So the points of view are more polarized than you get in a general election.”
Johnson believed the economy would improve with Romney because “it’s like changing coaches. [Rex Ryan, the Jets head coach] came in and we were 25th in the league in defense. We changed the coach and we were number two in the league in the defense. Same with presidents.”
For what it’s worth, the Jets, looking for a winning season, have turned the team over to a rookie quarterback. How does that metaphor play out for GOP hopefuls? Guess we’ll find out on the field.
Evan Puschak