Suetonius was heavily biased towards Vespasian, and I really love how he contrasts the two emperors (there were 3 emperors before Vespasian, but they all died in a year. Vespasian is pretty much Nero's succesor)
Nero ruined Rome, burning it down while he sang the Sack of Illium. He then went on to build a Golden House on the ashes of the ancient city, going on a huge building project that bankrupted the state. He inflated the economy, and stole from both the rich and poor by not only taxing them, but killing them.
Today, conservatives are talking about the estate tax on tv, talking about tax increases, warning about inflation, and about government fiscal policy and projects.
After the people and senate turned against Nero, there was chaos. Generals declared themselves emperor and a huge civil war occured. Then came Vespasian.
Vespasian was the first non Julio-Claudian emperor. That is, he was not born of royalty, but was simply a hardened old general. While Nero fancied himself as a god (and those before him), Vespasian did not do such a thing, joking "Oh my, I'm turning into a god" before he died. He did not like philosophers, etc, but was well read and made jokes. He focused on the people's needs as evident by the Colloseum (very well designed, made for practical use, with a well designed for entry and exiting, and an awning for hot days), which was built over Nero's personal Golden House.
He restored the currency's integrity, and the empire's coffers. While accused of avarice and greed, taxing in very dubious manners (Urinals are still called vespasiano in Italy, because Vespasian taxed the use of them). Suetonius though acknowledges that it was necessary because of the treasury's empty state.
While that taxing bit may go against Christie, Christie is being accused of avarice currently by going after things that were untouchable like unions, teachers, etc. While Corzine tried to use Obama's strategy and image in his campaign, Christie still managed to win an upset victory.
Christie speaks in a blunt way, and cracks jokes. He argues that he is trying to restore fiscal stability to his state, and to ease the burden of government off of the people.
While I support Keyensian economics, I'm also from New Jersey, and I fucking love this guy and his personality. I actually think that he can become president, since he has a very unique and well needed charm. He can capture both moderates and far righters IMHO. He speaks in a blunt manner, but never dumbs himself down. He focuses on the economy, rather than social issues which I think is killing the Republican party.
He's also, despite not sounding like most politician, a really good one. His arguments are simple and undestandable (teachers want a 4% pay raise despite the low inflation we have in the country, dunno about 0% in NJ). Very rational, but simple.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-0dtSyZCPg
