Chris Christie's Everywhere Campaign

Christie's media blitz this morning — including the cover of Time — could signal a shift in tone (and policy) for the New Jersey governor and his ever-growing national profile.

Chris Christie, the firebrand Republican and Governor of New Jersey, has never had an easy relationship with the media. Last summer he called one reporter an "idiot" and asked if he was "stupid," and in October he told off the hosts of Fox and Friends for asking him if his Sandy-related comments would affect the presidential election. But the media has always kind of loved Christie as an answer to politics as usual, from his potential as a vice-presidential candidate last year to his ever-growing force as presidential one in 2016, with a whole lot of Sandy in between. As 2013 seeps in, the love is spreading faster than ever: The Christie headlines and covers and interviews are rampant, with equal amounts of praise (from New Jerseyeans and Democrats) and skepticism (from conservatives concerned about Christie's impact on Republican politics). This morning Christie launched a media blitz, across four different morning shows as he landed on the cover of Time, which calls Christie "the master of disaster" and — in a nod to Christie's idol Bruce Springsteen — "THE BOSS."

The morning shows were a bit more contentious — proof that Christie won't take praise of his reent attack on John Boehner, or criticism of his Tuesday's State of the State address, standing down. Christie's 90-minute address, continued to focus on the devastation wrought by Sandy and the difficulty in convincing Congress to approve more federal aid to help New Jersey recover. But Christie, who has hinted about his willingness to run for president, never got around to discussing gun control, a reality that some of the morning anchors, like Matt Lauer and George Stephanopolous, took him to task for.

Christie told Stephanopoulos that "you pick things you want to talk about":

Christie told Matt Lauer that he would not indulge Lauer's desire for a "pithy" statement on gun control, after the host referenced his prior endorsement of banning assault weapons in New Jersey:

Repeating some points on other shows, he told CBS that gun control cannot be centered simply on banning certain kinds of gun, but should include comprehensive reform regarding mental health:

And on Morning Joe, Christie discussed the "hypocrisy" of those who argue for gun control but refuse to consider the depiction of violence in mass culture: