GOP needs more of Sandoval, Christie

Sam Pizzo, Henderson

Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, has expanded the federal-state Medicaid program and has embraced a state-based health insurance exchange. Sandoval said, “When the Supreme Court upheld the (Affordable Care Act), every state and every American was forced to abide by it.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stated in 2012 just before Mitt Romney’s defeat in the presidential election: “President Obama has kept every promise about Hurricane Sandy’s funding and delivered as promised.”

These positions are not popular with the GOP. But both Sandoval and Christie are more concerned with problems that face the citizens of their states than they are with the Republican Party’s position in any upcoming elections.

These two governors remind me of the Republican Party before the Tea Party came along and ruffled the feathers of this once-great party.

The GOP has to look no further than Sandoval and Christie as the right combination for a presidential ticket; either one would fit well as president or vice president. This may be just what the GOP needs to put it back on course.