Posted on 06/05/2013 7:05:50 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
He doesn't need a campaign platform for the primaries in 2016. All he needs, really, is this with a single word in 120-point font underneath: “ELECTABILITY.”
NBC/WSJ took his temperature in their new poll too and found similar parity across segments, although the numbers weren’t as robust:
He’s also energized certain segments of the Republican Party with his tough fiscal approach to governing New Jersey, and has proven popular among Garden State residents for his style of crisis management.
It’s a combination that’s led to 40 percent of Republicans, 41 percent of independents and 43 percent of Democrats seeing him in a positive light…
Among all respondents, Christie’s favorable/unfavorable rating lands at 41 percent favorable vs. 12 percent unfavorable. That’s compared to Obama’s 47 percent favorable/40 percent unfavorable rating and Clinton’s 49 percent favorable/31 percent unfavorable score.
You read that correctly: His favorables are actually highest among Democrats per NBC/WSJ. Two points here. One, needless to say, this won’t last, just as Hillary’s popularity isn’t lasting. Hillary got high bipartisan marks because, as chief diplomat for four years, she was removed from the daily Dem/GOP food fight; Christie’s achieved something similar from his management of Sandy relief, and the gubernatorial race in Jersey isn’t important enough to rank-and-file Democrats to spoil that mood. (Although…) The presidency is, so when Christie starts making real noise about that, his numbers will shift accordingly. Also, if he plans on running as a Republican in 2016, he’ll have work to do after he’s reelected in NJ to pander to national conservatives — not because he expects to win them in the primary but because he needs them to turn out in the general if he’s nominated. You don’t need righties to take the nomination, as we know all too well, but having a chunk of them staying home out of spite against Hillary could turn a close win into a loss. Once the pandering starts, his numbers with Democrats will deflate.
Two, I wonder if there’s actually anything, or any accumulation of things, that Christie could do to keep conservatives home in 2016 if he’s the nominee. We’ve nominated two guys in a row on electability grounds and, paradoxically, the fact that they lost will only make electability weigh more heavily in some Republicans’ minds next time. I.e. “Can we really afford 12 years of Democratic executive control? We need to take back the White House now, no matter what compromises on policy that might mean!” Plenty of white middle-class would-be Republican voters stayed home last year, but I suspect that had little to do with Romney being too squishy and a lot to do with him being insufficiently populist, especially at a time of economic hardship. Christie, a savvier politician (Sean Trende calls yesterday’s special-election gambit “genius”), probably won’t make that mistake. He’ll be a RINO, but he’ll be a populist RINO — and conservatives, faced with the prospect of President Hillary, will swallow hard and trudge to the polls. The only issue that I think could end up as a legitimate dealbreaker is Christie’s position on guns, an issue about which some righties are so passionate that it would pain them almost viscerally to vote for someone who’s crosswise with them on it. To be sure, most of them would vote for Christie anyway — President Hillary would be worse on guns too, right? — but some of them would feel almost morally obliged to stay home. Maybe that sinks him.
The alternative to all this, of course, is if he skips the GOP primaries altogether and runs as an independent. I wouldn’t say that’s likely but I do think it’s increasingly plausible, partly because it would allow Christie to retain more of his current bipartisan appeal. The key, I think, is whether Hillary runs too or whether some no-name Democrat is nominated. If she runs, Democrats will unify behind her and he’d be looking at one of the losing ends in a 40/30/30 Clinton victory. If she doesn’t run, maybe he ends up with that magic 40 percent figure in a three-way race and then the House of Representatives would have a very hard decision to make. Hmmm.
Too bad he got the Lap Band. There should be less and less of him.
“America’s got a fee-vah and the only prescription is more Chris Christie”
Will that be covered under Obamacare ?
Count me in on the side that will not vote for him.
So, in a hypothetical match-up with Christie vs Hillary, you’ll stay home again?
I guess I’m out of touch with the low information crowd. Hell is going to have to freeze over before I’ll ever vote for Krispy. We’re losing our country right now and he’s responsible for a great deal of the ass kicking Americans are taking right now.
ROFL!!!
But I will have to hold my nose and I'll probably back into the booth and vomit profusely afterward.
The Party is irretrievably lost if he is the best we can put forward against that woman.
But then, what difference does it make?
Before we’re done here.. y’all be wearing gold-plated diapers.
Well, don’t you worry your pretty little head, we have the antidote: Walker/Cruz.
100% conservative.
LOL, leave it to NBC/WSJ to try to make the GOPe’s case for Pork Porkie.
Porkie’s gun grabbing alone kills any slim ((heh!) chance he may have once had for national relevance before he was exposed as just another Northeast liberal. Add to that his relationship with his BFF, the African communist Ubama, his constant criticism of responsible Republicans for not rubber stamping the pork-laden hurricane relief slush fund, his homo hugging, and his footsie-playing with Islamic terrorists, and you have somebody whose name shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as “conservative”.
Fasten your seatbelts everybody - - here comes the GOPe and their next losing ticket: Jeb Bush / Pork Porkie 2016.
I’ll have a triple helping of NO THANKS!!!!!!
Well, here’s another kiss of death for our party, if this guy gets the nom.
I’ll bet he gets the Dole, McCain, Romney treatment right up until he locks up the nomination too.
Then...
We know that Ann “man neck” Colture will come out and support him and kiss his big fat butt.
This is the last straw for me, I won’t vote for him.
I have voted in every election I was old enough, started with Nixon, I will stay home if this fat pig gets the nomination.
Our goal would be to make sure that doesn’t happen.
If we nominate Krispy, we might as well have nominated Jeb.
Well I don’t expect either to be nominated, but I would strongly think of staying home if those were the contestants. Christie MUST be PUNISHED for throwing the most recent election to Obama.
I happily voted for Romney. For those who considered Romney on the left of the GOP, McCain, Romney and then Christie would make 3 left of the GOP base nominees in 3 elections. That also calls for the GOP to be put on notice they can not ignore the base. I was fine with Romney, but still two out three left of the base nominees might be reason enough for me to sit home. Make that nominee Christie and as I said he must pay a price for running point for Obama’s reelection in the run up to the last election.
Still this is likely to be moot as I said. When we get the actual nominees, it will be time to talk about support and intensity of support for the GOP nominee.
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