Chris Christie's provincial problem: Can he win outside the Northeast?

The Week ^ | November 12, 2013 | Jon Terbush

[miserare]

You might as well nominate Tony Soprano as the GOP candidate.

[miserare]

I did not read the thread first, and now I see the many other references to Tony Soprano.

See a trend here?

[paudio]

I think, when it comes to the general election, the more important question would be: Can he win any of the Northeast states? Outside Freepers, many Republicans in the 'red states' will vote for the party nominee, even for Christie. But that's not new, and if that's the case, the outcomes would be similar to the last several election cycles. Given Christie's background as a popular Northeastern Republican (unlike Romney in MA), it will be interesting to see if he can win any of the states in the region.

[2ndDivisionVet]

How are a current successful governor and a former successful governor/vice presidential candidate/Tea Party stalwart & kingmaker more “far-fetched” than Marco Rubio? Buehler? Buehler?

[ConservativeInPA]

How are a current successful governor and a former successful governor/vice presidential candidate/Tea Party stalwart & kingmaker more “far-fetched” than Marco Rubio? Buehler? Buehler?

As long as Sarah is at the top of the ticket. Hillary is going to be tough to beat. There are too many women that want to make history in electing the first female president. Let's give them a choice before we repeal the 19th amendment.

[RichInOC]

If the entire nation were one big New Jersey, Chris Christie would have the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in the bag.

And there’s his problem right there. It’s not.

[ConservativeInPA]

And there’s his problem right there. It’s not.

Exactly. NJ is hated, err, at a minimum looked down upon just on the other side of the river in PA. I live 100 miles west of Philadelphia, and maybe Christie plays well there, but he doesn't here. The big difference is that there are more conservatives here than in Philly where 80 to 90% of voters are Democrats. Democrats in Philly will follow their union bosses and blindly vote for a Democrat even if Christie is on the ticket.