When Chris Christie announced in June that he was running for president, he received endorsements from people whom no self-respecting Republican would want on their side.
Among them were the Washington Post’s resident NeverTrumper Jennifer Rubin and “The View” co-host Joy Behar, the latter of who proclaimed that Christie was “the only bully who calls the bully Trump a coward and a puppet of Putin. So he has a shot. Bully against bully crime — my favorite.”
Christie’s campaign started on an embarrassing note. Christie polled below the disfavored former Congresswoman Liz Cheney despite her not being a candidate. He still said “I’m winning it” despite the odds (He is currently averaging under three percent).
Christie’s attack on Vivek, whom he compared to ChatGPT in the first GOP Presidential Debate made headlines. Christie has also criticized Donald Trump as the current frontrunner. This was something he repeatedly did as an ABC ‘This Week’ commentator and candidate, despite cozying up to Trump in 2016.
Although Christie’s attacks against Trump didn’t move the needle when it came to post-debate funding or polling among Republicans his campaign received rave reviews by Democrats.
The former New Jersey governor’s popularity among Democrats has increased. Democrats once considered him to be a bully, a threat, and an opportunistic Trump advocate. Now they are raving about his new Trump-bashing persona.
A poll by the New York Times and Siena College in July found that 14 percent of Democrats would vote for Christie as a Republican nominee. In a poll conducted by the New York Times and Siena College in July, 14 percent of Democrats said they would vote for Christie if he were to be nominated as a Republican candidate.
A New York Post poll found that Christie ranked third in the Democratic party after the first Republican debate. One-third of those watching said that Christie had won.
There were also reports that Democrats in New Hampshire considered switching parties before the primary to vote for Christie. His campaign has not condemned this trick.
A spokesperson for the campaign told POLITICO that they were willing to accept votes or donations from Democrats. This spokesperson stated that Democratic interest was “expected” given Christie’s previous experience as Governor of a blue state.
Christie tried to do the same thing in 2015-2016 but was unsuccessful despite a slight increase in polls. After placing sixth in New Hampshire’s primaries, he dropped out the next day. He backed Donald Trump who Christie had previously urged voters to stay away from because he lacked “temperament”.
Will the second time around in New Hampshire be the charm for the Jersey-born Christie, who has said before he’s running a state-by-state campaign strategy rather than a national one? Though stranger things have happened, I wouldn’t bet on it, primarily because Christie ultimately will never live down his flip-flopping on Trump in 2016 (remember the hilarious “hostage” video?) among the party switchers and independents he’d need to pull off the upset, not to mention all the Republican support he’d need that he would be unlikely to get, either, considering his history.
