Is Chris Christie having a moment?
Here he comes!
Two polls out in the last few days point to something interesting: Chris Christie is starting to catch on.
An NBC News national poll put Christie at 5%, good for 4th place and marginally ahead of the likes of Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.
And a Saint Anselm College survey of New Hampshire voters puts Christie in 3rd place behind only Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.
That’s the second New Hampshire poll of late to show Christie making a move in the Granite State; he was at 9% in a survey released earlier this month.
Which is interesting — because it suggests that Christie has received a bigger boost from his entrance into the race (on June 6) than some of his better-regarded competitors.
And it also suggests there is at least some appetite for the anti-Trump message that Christie is selling — especially in New Hampshire.
Trump, it appears, is noticing.
In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, Trump went after Christie — calling him “Sloppy” and adding: “He was Governor of New Jersey & then virtually moved to New Hampshire to campaign for President. He drew flies, quit the race, enthusiastically endorsed me, but became VERY unpopular in N.J. 9% Approval!”1
Trump doesn’t attack people he doesn’t think matter. He has explained — as recently as in an interview last week with Bret Baier — that he likes to spend his time attacking the people running close to him.
“I like fighting number two,” Trump explained about his attacks on DeSantis. “If you're in a golf match and you got one guy that's close and other guys that aren't so close -- but he's not close.”
As I have written before about Christie, I think he is uniquely positioned to make Trump uncomfortable (if anyone can).
Christie is very media savvy — and very good on his feet. Which makes him someone that TV networks are regularly going to use (he was on ABC and Fox this past weekend). Which gets his name (and message) out there. (My guess is that Christie will be a standout in the first debate as well — whether or not Trump takes part.)
He also knows Trump (and Trump’s insecurities) very well from his time as governor of New Jersey, meaning he knows where to poke the billionaire businessman.
All of which means that Trump will struggle to ignore Christie’s repeated provocations. And by attacking Christie, he will likely continue to elevate the former New Jersey governor.
This Christie bump is bad news for DeSantis, who is desperately trying to turn the race into a two-man affair. If Christie’s numbers continue to improve in New Hampshire, it’s very likely he is taking support away from DeSantis who, um, is not covering himself in glory while campaigning in the Granite State.
In his first town hall event in the state this week, DeSantis, according to the New York Times, took an hour before even mentioning the words “New Hampshire” — even while he mentioned Florida more than 80 times.
Which, um, not good.
Now, before we get too far down the road of Christie-mentum, it’s important to remember he has a clear ceiling in the race. There are just a lot of Republicans who a) don’t like him and b) will never vote for him.
A recent CNN poll made that clear. Sixty one percent of those polled said they would never support Christie under any circumstances for president. That was the highest number among anyone tested.
Data points like that confirm to me that Christie isn’t going to be the Republican nominee. There are just too many Republicans who don’t like him and aren’t going to change their minds about him.
But, that doesn’t mean he can’t matter in the race. He is clearly finding ways to work himself into the national conversation — largely by attacking Trump plainly and repeatedly — and at least some voters are responding.
History suggests that someone will emerge from the pack of single digit contenders to make a mark in one of the early states. Right now that candidate looks like Christie.
Christie did bomb out of New Hampshire in 2016, finishing 6th (Trump won) and endorsing Trump in short order.
This is interesting and insightful CC, but I think you are not sufficiently underscoring something: a big part of the reason why Christie is getting a bump and why he's dangerous to Trump is because he is saying things out loud what people think in private ... just like Trump did. That was a huge part of Trump's appeal: saying things people thought or believed or felt were true but which nobody would dare say out loud during a campaign. And that is exactly what Christie is doing. It's related to why we like comedians. And it was a big part of what got Trump elected. And Christie has beat the other candidates to the obvious "punchline." By far!! And that makes for some very good entertainment in a political epoch where the ability to be entertaining "trumps" policy expertise. Christie is, at least for now, the only candidate who in this way is out-Trumping Trump.
I am not sure Christie will pull ahead enough to be the nominee, but I do think that he has a chance to take Trump down a few notches. Christie is a bully as well and knows how and where to attack Trump. Christie probably won’t make another run in 2028, so has nothing to lose. He can attack, attack, attack. I was born and raised in NJ and lived there until 2 years ago. Christie wasn’t the best governor but certainly not the worst. He got caught up in some scandals that hurt him but, at this point, don’t think they are consequential. I also do not count anyone out as we have seen with Trump, you never know. Who thought Trump had a chance in 2016? He became the nominee yet most thought that was going to give the win to Clinton. It would have been the case if it hadn’t been a late development with Comey. I would like the race to be between Trump and Christie, as opposed to Trump and DeSantis. Time will tell.