In late November and early December, in the wake of Chris Christie's landslide re-election victory, the Republican governor from New Jersey was riding high in the polls.
Christie topped the other potential GOP 2016 White House hopefuls in surveys of Republicans' choice for their next presidential nominee, and he was knotted up with Hillary Clinton in hypothetical general election showdowns.
Now, after month of intense media scrutiny over a couple of controversies in his state, Christie's numbers have faded, according to a new CNN/ORC International survey.
In a possible 2016 matchup with Clinton, the poll indicates Christie trails the former secretary of state by 16 percentage points, with Clinton at 55% and the Governor at 39% among registered voters nationwide. That's a dramatic switch from December, when Christie held a 48%-46% edge over Clinton.
"Christie has also lost ground among independents, who were the key to his strong showing late last year," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Christie got 59% support among Independents in December. Now that has dropped to 39%."
I have to say that I NEVER had any faith in the idea that Christie posed a real challenge to Hillary.
I figured if he won the nomination, a doubtful outcome in and of itself, that she would easily manipulate him into losing his temper and letting his inner Ralph Kramden come out and scare the voters off before the first ballot was cast.
Hillary knows all about bullies and would have had little difficulty with an overweight blowhard like Christie.
In fact I think the only people who ever believed he had a shot were the Republicans who were desperate to find somebody, ANYBODY, who could take Hillary on.
And now that they have lost their candidate their panic is almost palpable.
Whenever you see the name Mitt Romney coming up for consideration, like happened just this weekend, you KNOW the Republican party has literally nothing left up its sleeve.
Christie gets friction burns just walking to the water cooler.
ReplyDeleteNow, that's just nasty--so of course I heartily approve.
DeleteI'd still pay a hundred bucks to watch a wild animal chase him up a couple flights of stairs.
DeleteIt will be interesting to see what excuse Sarah Palin comes up with this time for not running and how long it takes before she admits it.
ReplyDeleteShe can't run for anything and never will again.
DeleteI'm really interested in the media/journalists following the money trail as to the storm funds that he has been controlling.
ReplyDeleteSounds like he's been up to no good in that regard too.
Have to say that I don't like him....just watching him pull his past bully stuff/reactions is bad enough. Plus, he was a prosecutor (and very successful at it from what I hear - as to government corruption cases, if you can believe that!)..he seems to be manipulating things as the days go by...plus, he reminds me of someone who would be a member of the mafia.
He is looking stressed, has skin problems on his face and could topple over from a heart attack.....but, he keeps saying he loves what he is doing and wants to finish his four years as governor!
Like the NFL plays musical chairs with head coaches, so goes politics. What makes Romney better the third time around than he was the first?
ReplyDelete6:48 Romney is no more likeable now than he was then. Tax cheat, snob with a witchy wife. Imagine any party electing a WOMAN who looks like Christie? Obese, blowhard bully with multiple chins, struggling to climb stairs onto a podium? A woman would never make it onto ANY ticket with those drawbacks. His weight is not the ONLY negative Christie faces.
DeleteI wonder if Hillary would give him a pass on releasing his tax records like the President did.
DeleteSomehow I suspect she would not.
He won't run again. He barely wanted to run last time.
Delete
ReplyDeleteSen. Mark Begich (D-AK) beats out Sarah Palin and every other declared or potential challenger in Alaska's upcoming Senate race, according to a new poll.
The Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday found Begich leading former Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan (R) 41 percent to 37 percent. In a matchup against Alaska Lieutenant Gov. Mead Treadwell Begich leads 43 percent to 37 percent.
Interestingly, in a matchup against Sarah Palin, Begich leads by only 4 percentage points. The poll found Begich leading Palin 44 percent to 40 percent.
None of the third-party candidates included in the PPP poll came within spitting distance of the incumbent senator.
Begich's approval-disapproval rating breaks about even. The poll found 43 percent of those surveyed approve of him while 44 percent disapprove.
The poll is welcome news for Begich since his seat has been perceived as an easy pickup for Republicans and outside conservative groups have set him as a target.
The PPP poll was conducted January 30 to February 1 among 850 Alaska voters.
http://images.politico.com/global/2014/02/04/alaskapollresults.html
Are those Alaska voters even aware that Palin lives in Arizona now? Were most of them Palin/Heath family members anxious to get back on the government payroll via $carah?
DeleteI'm betting Mark beats all the unemployed divorced women in AZ, like Sarah Heath. In fact , I 'm betting he gets more votes than all Arizonans, divorced like Sarah or not.
DeleteWe've been teased with improbable losers for years. Time has passed and there's still Jeb Bush.
DeleteTHANK you, 8:01 AM!
DeleteI didn't need the mental picture of Chris Christie's "friction burns." Eeew.
ReplyDeleteAlaska's rape rate is the highest in the country -- three times the national average. To find out why, I went to Alaska to talk with victims, politicians -- and the rapists.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/02/opinion/sutter-change-alaska-rape/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
A very sad story, and unfortunately it is very common in the villages in Bush Alaska.
DeleteCNN says it's because of " a couple of controversies"
ReplyDeleteLet's see, the bridge lane closures, holding up Sandy money in Hoboken, spending Sandy money on a previously planned senior facility in a town not hard hit by Sandy, spending Sandy money in a new apartment building in New Brunswick also not as hard hit by Sandy, ignoring for a year the legislation requiring inspectors and oversight for Sandy expenditures over $5 million, vetoing a law that would have required a website transparently listing Sandy expenditures, canceling the &67 million contract with the group doling out Sandy money without telling anyone of the cancellation.., Sounds like more than a couple of controversies!
Christie has gone from holding a two point advantage over Clinton in December 2012 (48%-46%) to trailing the former Sec. of State 55%-39%. Gov. Christie has seen his support plunge by 20 points with Independents (59%-39%). In the last three polls taken, Hillary Clinton’s lead has gone from eight points to twelve points to sixteen points. After Christie was booed twice at public events during Super Bowl week, Republicans are finally starting to get the hint that the New Jersey governor is seriously damaged.
ReplyDeleteIn their time of freakout, Republicans are begging Jeb Bush to run. Any time a Republican was asked about 2016 on the past week’s Sunday shows, they immediately tried to tilt the conversation towards Bush. If you think you’ve heard this song before, it’s because you have. When the Republican Party was disappointed with John McCain in 2008, they longed for Jeb Bush. Mitt Romney was such a disappointed that they were openly begging for the former Florida governor. After Chris Christie’s collapse, they are now hoping that Jeb Bush is their 2016 savior.
Republicans appear to be moving on from Chris Christie, but they are in for a rude awakening if they think Jeb Bush will defeat Hillary Clinton. The destruction done to the Bush family name by George W. has not been forgotten by voters. Republicans have been reduced to finding a name that might seem somewhat electable to voters. The last thing the party wants is to see Rand Paul walk off with the Republican nomination and then get totally crushed by Clinton.
A lot can change over the next year plus, but currently Republicans are losing the only electable presidential candidate that they had. Hillary Clinton looking the an even stronger candidate than she was in 2008, while Republicans are still refusing to admit that it is the message not the messenger that is their biggest problem.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/03/chris-christie-toast-hillary-clinton-opens-16-point-lead-2016-match.html
Anon @ 8:44: I lost a bet in 2012 and had to pay for dinner because I thought Jeb Bush would run. As for 2016? I will place the same bet with my friends, and would be delighted to lose! The problem with my former governor is this: He seems laid back and reasonable, he married a Latina, speaks her language fluently and has rather handsome sons who will capably do his bidding in either language. Never mind the damage he did during his tenure. (Don't even get me going!) So Yes, I think he will go for the brass ring this time, and he will point out his relative youth vs Hillary Clinton's age. There is something he may not consider: There are times when Age and Experience has the advantage over Youth and Exuberance.
DeleteOf course, falling into the latter category, I shall not forget the damage that man did, not merely to education in Florida but to the fate of the Nation during the elections at the turn of the Millennium.
Buckle up, people. Democrats are coming out swinging hard.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/04/sandy-levin-mocks-eric-cantors-claim-obamacare-borrowed-time.html
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/03/california-democrat-calls-gop-congressman-inaccurate-criticism-president.html
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/03/mitch-ditched-10-polls-show-mcconnell-tied-trailing-democrat-alison-grimes.html
McConnell is going down thanks in part to their Democratic Governor opening up a whole new world of healthcare to the neediest citizens of Kentucky. Many of these people still won't vote, but for those that will they now know which party has their best interests at heart, and it's not the GOP, which would still have them sick and without proper healthcare.
DeleteThis is exactly why red state Governors, including our own Sean Parnell, will not accept the extended Medicaid coverage for their constituents. If people find out that the Democratic ACA plan is helping them then they might actually vote that way next time.
Kentucky is so lucky to have a progressive Governor and now they will also have a progressive Senator!
Jesse, did you see this?
ReplyDeleteRepublicans Propose New Privatization Scheme That Would Destroy Public Schools
...There has been a concerted effort to transform America’s public education system to a taxpayer-funded private religious school scam, and last week many Americans missed a Republican proposal to destroy the public school system because they were awaiting President Obama’s State of the Union address. However, if they listened carefully to two of the Republican responses, they would have noticed the drumbeat to school privatization Republicans claimed is “all about the children.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/04/republicans-propose-privatization-scheme-destroy-public-schools.html
Another Poll Shows Republicans Ditching Christie For Huckabee In 2016
ReplyDeleteA poll out Tuesday provided more evidence that Mike Huckabee has benefitted from both his comment on contraception and the bridge scandal embroiling Chris Christie.
The latest CNN/ORC International poll showed Huckabee leading the GOP's potential 2016 pack with 14 percent support, edging Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) by a single point. Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) each claimed the support of 10 percent of GOP voters.
A CNN/ORC poll in late-November and early-December found the New Jersey governor leading his Republican rivals.
Democratic pollster PPP showed last week that Huckabee could have some momentum. Following Huckabee's widely mocked remark about birth control and the female libido, a survey from PPP last showed the former Arkansas governor as the GOP's top choice for 2016.
The CNN/ORC poll also indicated that Christie's electability has been damaged by the ongoing George Washington Bridge scandal. In a hypothetical presidential matchup, Hillary Clinton trounced Christie among registered voters nationwide, 55 percent to 39 percent.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll last week also showed Clinton with a comfortable lead over Christie.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-christie-huckabee-2016
Uncle Sugar would have to REALLY work hard to overcome the perception of him as a fraud. Preacher who turned to politics to make more $$$. Jeb Bush will NEVER overcome Georgie's bad karma, even Barbara Bush said "Enough Bush's in the WH" Next - Santorum, otherwise known as Pope Santorum. Would not be surprised to see Newticles Gingrich try AGAIN, since he knows there is money to be made in simply running.
ReplyDelete... and Cruz is slobbering at the picture of wide-open opportunity... (reaching for a barf bucket...)
DeleteAnd don't write off Perry with his fancy new glasses to make him look smarter and I think I read somewhere that "Herb" 999 Cain wouldn't rule out another run (or maybe that was a nightmare I had). And why are we seeing Mitt and Ann everywhere these days like we saw Palin and the first dud in 2009/2010? And what about the policy wonk, Paulie Ryan? Surely he can fit in a few debates between wonking and washing up clean dishes in various soup kitchens. Forget about a clown car, they're going to need a bus. Maybe Palin can rent them hers.
DeleteJust saw gov.Krispy Kreme on the Ed show. I swear his nose is getting bigger.
ReplyDeleteChristy was never going to win the primary anyway. The R's are going to drag out Jeb Bush to be their candidate.
ReplyDeleteJeb Bush would be an idiot to run, especially if it looks like Hillary will be the Dems' nominee.
DeletePlus, do we really believe the country would vote for another Bush? GW isn't the honey he once was among Republicans.
For months he's been positioning himself to become a contender. Then Sandy hit, he did two million dollar commercials starring himself in all his quasi presidential splendor, Marypat and the (ahem) fruit of his loins cavorting on the beach to "Stronger than the Storm, when the original would cost half that in taxpayer money.
ReplyDeleteThen he goes on all the talk shows playing the "I'm fat and can do the job" cha cha, while secretly getting his tummy banded surgically, because people just saw the fat and not the real Chrispy Creme.
Misappropriating Sandy funds, then the bridge fiasco. A few people quit (for immunity) one got fired.... and suddenly he's in Palin Territory. It ain't over folks..... not by a long shot.
All Hillary has to do is show up, they got nothing even close. If Hillary decides not to run, they're really screwed.
Kinda late to the party, but this comic is a good example of what we could have expected from a Christie presidency:
ReplyDeletehttps://medium.com/the-nib/33fdab6a9ef3
Kinda late to the party, but this comic represents what we could have expected from a Christie presidency:
ReplyDeletehttps://medium.com/the-nib/33fdab6a9ef3