Chris Christie: Underdog?
A year removed from a scandal that dethroned the New Jersey governor as Republican White House frontrunner, Christie is taking steps toward a 2016 bid that supporters and other GOP operatives warn has been prematurely written off by the very Acela Corridor he hails from.
Major Republican donors considered crucial to financing Establishment candidates like Christie remain intrigued. Indeed, rather than being crowded out of the race by Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, Christie could become a safe place for big GOP contributors to park their endorsement and avoid antagonizing the party’s two Establishment heavyweights. A Republican lobbyist with ties to the money-rich Northeast described Christie as a “safe haven from the Bush-Romney tempest.”
But if Christie’s connection to wealthy donors is expected — after all, he raised more than $100 million from them in 2014 as chairman of the Republican Governors Association — his shot at earning the support of the GOP base is less so.
And yet Christie, a so-called centrist Establishmentarian, earned plaudits in Iowa, whose first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses are so dominated by grassroots conservatives that many mainstream Republican candidates are considering skipping them. Republican operatives in the Hawkeye State say Christie’s speech over the weekend to a group of likely caucus-goers was well received, and not just because he bothered to show up.
“People like Chris Christie, they’re glad he’s on our side. If they have problems with him on issues, well, they’re going to have problems with a lot of the candidates on the issues. But they like a fighter,” Chuck Laudner, a conservative GOP operative, told the Washington Examiner on Monday.
Christie has unveiled a new political action committee, Leadership Matters for America, a move that mimics other likely presidential candidates and is viewed as a precursor to a White House bid. Before a scandal over the closure of the George Washington Bridge erupted on the heels of his landslide re-election in November of 2013, it might have been heralded with the fanfare that surrounded the opening of Bush’s PAC and super PAC earlier this month.
Christie said he did nothing wrong and every investigation so far has confirmed that claim. But members of his senior staff, whom the governor later fired, were implicated, and Christie’s national poll numbers, once golden and outpacing those of likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, took a huge hit. Between a tarnished image that cut to the core of his persona as a strong leader, and the Bush juggernaut, many labeled Christie 2016’s odd man out.
Not so fast, say Christie’s supporters. Given a wide-open Republican primary and Christie’s unique personal charisma, it’s way too early to write off a pro-life Republican who managed to win two terms in liberal New Jersey by corralling the support of the very Democratic-leaning demographics the GOP needs to be successful in a national contest. Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor and a Christie confidant, cautioned against underestimating his friend.
“There’s no real frontrunner,” Barbour said in a telephone interview. “And, his name ID is surprisingly high among citizens on the street.”
Barbour took a chance on Christie in 2009 when, in his capacity as RGA chairman, he directed significant resources into New Jersey just months after President Obama and the Democrats had won big victories. It paid off, and the two have been close ever since. Barbour, who joined Christie on the campaign trail last year as the then-RGA chairman stumped for GOP governors, related a story that he said explained Christie’s potential electoral strength.
“We ate in a casual food restaurant in suburban Kansas City and people who worked in the kitchen came out and wanted to get a picture with him,” Barbour recalled. “It struck me, having been doing this for a long time, that it’s unusual for a governor that has never run nationally to be recognized by rank and file citizens.”
In coming weeks, Christie is headed back to Iowa, to New Hampshire, and to California and Illinois for political events, sources close to the governor confirmed. Christie is putting together an aggressive schedule, heavy on fundraising, with events being planned in nearly a dozen states.
As the shadow GOP primary unfolds, expect Christie to emphasize his “unique record, and a track record of both winning and governing well as a conservative in a very blue state,” a Christie source said. “He has proven a unique ability to connect with voters in a way unlike anyone else.”
And what about the specter of Christie’s history of confrontational, “sit down and shut up” exchanges with voters during town hall meetings?
The governor’s critics, even some who expect him to make some initial headway in a 2016 campaign, predict Christie’s aggressive personality — the one that earned him plaudits in conservative circles when directed at union members — will eventually turn off rank and file Republicans. But Team Christie say the governor’s detractors miss the point of his success.
“He is who he is, very candid and direct. Not everyone will love it, but people will see who he is as a person because of it, and they will like what they see,” the Christie source said. “Most politicians simply are uncomfortable being as direct and candid as he, but that’s turned out to be a positive at a time when people crave authenticity.”
