Citing his own experience as a father in the public eye, Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie hammered the National Rifle Association Thursday for referencing the president's daughters in a "reprehensible" and "awful" web ad. 

"To talk about the president's children or any public officers children who have -- not by their own choice, but by requirement -- to have protection, to use that somehow to try to make a political point I think is reprehensible," he said at a news conference in Trenton.  

Christie, who has four children, said that his kids had "no choice, realistically" in his decision to become a public figure and themselves be subject to the media spotlight. 

"I think it's awful to bring public figures' children into the political debate," he said. "They don't deserve to be there. And I think for any of us who are public figures, you see that kind of ad and you cringe."

The web ad, released Tuesday night, questions the president's skepticism of the NRA's proposal to put armed guards in every school in America even though the First Family has Secret Service Protection. 

"Are the presidents’ kids more important than yours?”  a narrator asks in the short video. 

Christie, who was criticized by some on the right for praising the president in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, is up for re-election this year. He is commonly cited as a possible 2016 presidential contender for the GOP. 

The popular governor said Thursday that the controversial advertisement undermines the NRA's credibility as an advocate for gun rights. 

"Don’t be dragging people’s children into this,” he said. “It’s wrong and I think it demeans them and it makes them less of a valid trusted source of information on the real issues that confront this debate."

Two and a half months after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Northeast coast, the political fight over federal spending to assist the recovery efforts continues in Congress.

In the end, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will almost certainly get more than $60 billion in federal aid to help them recover and rebuild.

But efforts by some House members even as late as Monday night to add unrelated funds to the Sandy emergency aid bill provided an object lesson in why such emergency bills are perfect vehicles for adding more spending.

The House on Tuesday will be voting on both a larger Sandy bill, costing $33.7 billion, offered by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R- N.J., a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and a smaller one, costing $17 billion, offered by Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky.

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If the House were to pass both those bills and if one adds the $9.7 billion that the House OK’d on Jan. 4 in additional borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program, the total aid, at least for now, would be $60.4 billion.

At Monday night’s hearing of the House Rules Committee that considered 92 amendments to the bill, Rogers explained that his version was “Sandy only. We tried to rifle-shot money to this immediate catastrophe…. We kept everything out of my bill except Sandy.”

Rogers reminded committee members that tens of billions of federal dollars have already been spent on helping people hurt by Sandy. “So far FEMA has been able to award states a total of $3.1 billion for the immediate needs that have been taking place while we were scouring the numbers (in the big Sandy relief bill),” he reported. “For example, New York has received $2.1 billion and New Jersey almost $900 million, Connecticut $38 million.”

Among the differences between Frelinghuysen’s bigger bill and Rogers’s smaller one: Frelinghuysen would provide more funding for the operations of federal agencies in the Sandy-affected states – even if the agency is not directly engaged in helping people or businesses hit by the storm. For instance, Frelinghuysen’s bill would provide $50 million to the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund for “expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Sandy” and another $10 million for Sandy-related building and construction expenses for the federal prison system. Rogers’s bill does not include this funding.

Some House Republicans are still balking at the sheer size of the bills and at the near certainty that some money won’t be going directly to victims or towns hit by the storm.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, walks to a strategy session with GOP members, on Capitol Hill, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, at the start of the first full day of business for the new 113th Congress.

Rules Committee member Rep. Rob Woodall, R- Ga., said Monday night, “If we have an urgent need, let’s agree on that number we can agree on and let’s get it out the door with haste, but if we have a giant need, then let’s give it the slow and thoughtful scrutiny that we owe folks back home.”

He noted that a $60 billion bill for Sandy – to be given just a few days of debate -- would be larger than the normal appropriations bills for the State Department or the Homeland Security Department on which Congress deliberates for months.

Disaster relief bills are massive, have emotional appeal, and aren’t subject to as much scrutiny as spending bills that go through the normal Appropriations Committee process.

This bill has particular momentum since House Speaker John Boehner was so harshly criticized by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and House members from the Northeast for not allowing a vote on a Sandy relief bill on New Years’ Eve.

And the bigger the emergency, the better the opportunity to add more money. Last June’s wildfires in Colorado and the 2011 tsunami in Japan both occurred months before Sandy and hundreds or even thousands of miles away from Sandy, but emergency bills are an opportunity to get aboard a moving train and get money for disasters in one’s own district.

For example:
• Rep. Cory Gardner, R- Colo. and other Colorado members proposed $125 million for watershed protection and flood mitigation around the nation, including about $20 million for areas in Colorado burned by last summer’s wildfires. This watershed protection money was in the Sandy bill that the Senate passed last month.
• Rep. Rick Larsen, D- Wash. proposed an amendment to allow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration greater leeway over the $290 million in Sandy marine debris cleanup funds so that Pacific Coast states could get some of that money to cope with their own marine debris from the March 2011 Japanese tsunami.
“Just last month, an entire Japanese dock washed up on the Washington state coast,” Larsen said in a statement. “Our state and local governments do not have the resources to deal with this problem, which can cost as much as $4,300 per ton of debris that comes ashore.”

Ultimately the Rules Committee did not allow those two amendments to proceed to the House floor for Tuesday’s debate. It did allow a few amendments to try to offset the cost of the Sandy aid.

For example the House will consider a proposal by Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R- S.C. to offset $17 billion in Sandy funding by a 1.63 percent across-the-board cut in non-Sandy discretionary funding.

“I’ve lived through a hurricane myself; I’ve had my office destroyed by a flood; I think this (emergency aid) is a proper function of the government….I just want to try to find a way to pay for it,” Mulvaney told the Rules Committee. “This is important; there is no question. Is it important enough to borrow money from China to do it, especially when we’re already borrowing money from China to do so many other things?”

Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) has filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission -- as part of his all-but certain effort to run for Senate in 2014.

The FEC filing, which the Newark Star-Ledger first reported, is dated Jan. 8

Booker released a video back in December saying that he wouldn't run for governor in 2013 but was instead eyeing a bid for Senate -- even though the seat is currently occupied by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).

A recent Fairleigh Dickinson University poll found Booker leading Lautenberg by more than 20 points among New Jersey Democrats in a hypothetical Dem primary, 42%-20%.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

President Barack Obama, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (center) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, talk as they look over the 9/11 Memorial in New York.

An annual speech by a Northeastern governor focusing entirely on disaster recovery efforts wouldn't normally make national news.

But when that governor is a possible presidential contender, a symbol of Republican infighting and the proud owner of a sterling 73 percent state-wide approval rating, it's a different story. 

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is one of several governors whose rumored presidential ambitions offer a larger national platform for annual "State of the State" speeches that can contain hints of their policy ideals, political goals and personalities.

Republicans Christie, Virginia's Bob McDonnell, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, and Wisconsin's Scott Walker have all been discussed as future GOP standard bearers. Democrats Martin O'Malley of Maryland and Andrew Cuomo of New York are also thought to be eyeing national office.

From policies to address economic concerns to commentary on Washington political culture, those who have delivered their State of the Union equivalents have offered glimpses of their governing style, as well as the challenges facing them in their current jobs. 

In his State of the State address Tuesday, Christie suggested little in the way of new proposals, but touted his own record as a reformer and offered a rhetorical pep rally for a state battered by last year's superstorm Sandy.

Slideshow: Chris Christie

Mel Evans / AP

The N.J. politician's straight-talk and tough policies put him in the national spotlight — but after considering a presidential bid, the governor decided he wasn't ready.

Launch slideshow

"Despite the challenges that Sandy presented our economy, I will not let New Jersey go back to our old ways of wasteful spending and rising taxes," he said. "We will deal with our problems but we will continue to do so by protecting the hard earned money of all New Jerseyans first and foremost. "

Christie, who is preparing his own re-election bid in New Jersey, pointedly thanked his Democratic colleagues in the heavily blue state. 

"Maybe the folks in Washington, in both parties, could learn something from our record here," he said.

The relative lack of controversy from the famously blunt Christie Tuesday contrasted with neighboring state head and possible Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Cuomo. 

Cuomo, a popular New York governor and formidable fundraiser, grabbed headlines for his Wednesday afternoon address, during which he proposed a specific new gun policy that would "enact the toughest assault weapon ban in the nation, period."

The outspoken governor dismissed critics who say an assault weapons ban would infringe on the rights of sportsmen and women --an argument echoed at the federal level as the Obama administration weighs gun control measures. 

"I say to you, forget the extremists," Cuomo declared loudly. "It's simple. No one hunts with an assault rifle. No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer. And too many innocent people have died already."

His address included a laundry list of policy measures that thrill the Democratic base, including election funding reform, climate control measures, the passage of a women's equality act and fortified abortion rights legislation.

"Because it's her body, it's her choice!" Cuomo repeated three times to applause from the crowd 

Virginia's McDonnell, whose fast-growing state suffers from a dearth of transportation funds, used part of his remarks to outline plans to overhaul the way roads and bridges are paid for by taxpayers.

The plan would eliminate an existing gas tax -- which is based on overall gasoline volume rather than price at the pump --  in favor of a sales tax hike to help fill Virginia's yawning transportation funding gap.

By tying the transportation funds to sales, the logic goes, the pool of funds for construction and maintenance will grow with the state's economy. But it risks complaint from some in the national Republican base who object to tax increases of any kind. 

The Virginia governor also echoed the rhetoric of national Republicans by underscoring his efforts to make "government live within its means."

And, like Christie, the Virginia governor poked fun at the federal city no more than a few hours' drive away. McDonnell slammed the lack of "bipartisan consensus" in Washington, saying that Capitol Hill is seized by "dysfunctional governing paralysis."

"In Washington, we see debt, taxes, delays, blame, and dysfunction. Here in Virginia we see results, solutions, job growth, surpluses, and cooperation," he said. "What a difference 100 miles makes."

Jason Reed / REUTERS

Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker addresses delegates during the first session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 4, 2012.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Thursday gave another hint that his political future could involve a run for governor in the Garden State.

The New Jersey Democrat assured the LGBT caucus (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) gathered here at the Democratic National Convention that a marriage-equality bill would soon pass in the state, and it could be his signature that enacts it into law.  

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"I’m telling you right now, it’s not a matter of if we’re going to win marriage-equality in New Jersey," Booker said. "It’s a matter of when we’re going to win it. And I know in my heart of hearts, if God is willing, I will be there on that day that bill is signed. I might even have a very good seat when it gets done.”

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In recent months, rumors have swirled that Booker could be interested in facing off against current New Jersey governor and rising star of the Republican party, Chris Christie. The men are friendly -- and even made a parody YouTube video together earlier this year -- but Booker's remark today may be further proof that the prominent mayor would not back down from squaring off against Christie.

During the DNC this week, Booker's name has even been mentioned as a possible contender for the White House in 2016, though that would be a difficult thing to pull off. If he were to win the governorship -- no easy task against a so far fairly popular Christie -- he would only be in office a year and a half before he would have to start campaigning for the Democratic presidential primary.

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It would also be crass for Booker to appear to be looking like he was thinking about running for president and leaving the job of governor even before he had it. 

Booker has spoken to the delegations of important primary and caucus states like Iowa and New Hampshire. Booker was swarmed by admiring Democrats after his speech to Granite State delegates Thursday morning, hoping for pictures and a chance to shake his hand.

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Booker was even more well received later Thursday when he spoke to the LGBT caucus.

"I'm at home," he said to thunderous applause when he took the stage. "When it comes to movements for justice in the United States of America, this room is full of heroes each and every one of you.”

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He related the struggles of African Americans, Irish and Jews to the hurdles the gay community now faces.

"Hatred is hatred," Booker said. "Bigotry is bigotry. And we need to wake up America to understand that inequality is inequality. Every person who says I am a citizen of the United States of America should have equal citizenship rights."

Booker took the stage shortly after Second Lady Jill Biden, who had similar praise for President Obama's support for gay rights.

CHRISTIE: Romney raises money in New Jersey with the Garden State governor tonight.

JINDAL: Ramesh Ponnuru likes Bobby Jindal, per GOP 12.

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RICE: Condi Rice again ruled out being veep despite her rousing speech in Utah before Romney donors, et al. "I didn't run for student council president; I don't see myself in any way in elective office. I love policy, I'm not particularly fond of politics,” she said on CBS, adding, “I'm saying there is no way I will do this, because it's really not me."

Despite her disdain for politics, NBC’s Alex Moe reports on Rice’s speech at a fundraiser before a conservative women’s group on Capitol Hill, her first such Capitol Hill fundraising event.

RUBIO: “Before the Supreme Court of the United States gutted much of the Arizona immigration law in a decision released on Monday, Rubio tackled the subject on an appearance on ‘Fox and Friends’ on Fox News earlier in the day,” Sunshine State News writes. Despite Romney having called the Arizona law a “model” for the nation, Rubio said, “I think Arizona-type laws are not the ideal. But we have to understand why states like Arizona did it and if we really don’t like Arizona laws then the federal government should do its job.”

Still Rubio praised Romney on immigration, calling him “the most compelling voice in favor of legal immigration that we’ve seen in quite some time.”