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.