Chris Christie To Waddle Into 2016 GOP Race

by JASmius



What was that Wimpy used to say?  "I'll pay you next Tuesday for a presidential candidacy today":

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will join the crowded Republican 2016 field on Tuesday, two people with knowledge of his plans said.

Christie, fifty-two, will cap months of speculation with an announcement in his hometown of Livingston, said the people, who asked for anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak before his speech.

While Christie previously said he hadn’t made up his mind about a run, he’s spent recent months making policy speeches and holding meetings in key primary states including New Hampshire and Iowa. He’s traveled as “honorary chairman” of Leadership Matters for America, his political action committee.

Samantha Smith, a committee spokeswoman, didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Probably because she was making a lunch run to Blimpy's in the gubernatorial U-Haul van.



Unfortunately for the Big Man, not only will the debate stage be crowded even with him on it solo, but the timing of this announcement leak was, shall we say, inopportune:

Chris Christie’s approval ratings continue to drop in his home state, according to a new poll.

Only 30% of registered voters surveyed by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll said they approved of the job the possible Republican presidential candidate is doing, while 55% disapproved. The approval rating is a six percentage-point drop from April.

The new poll also marks the two-term governor’s lowest approval ratings since he took office in 2010, when he registered 48% approval. His rating peaked in November 2012 (just one month after Hurricane Sandy ravaged his state’s coastal areas) at 77% and has been on a steady decline ever since. September 2014 was the last time his approval ratings were “above water” (46% approval - 40% disapproval).

In other words, Governor Christie waited too long to run.  He was a conservative rock star in 2010, and his time to seek the presidency would have been to challenge Barack Obama in 2012.  And even then, the timing of Hurricane Sandy would have sabotaged his candidacy right at the close of the campaign by forcing him to make kissy-face with his opponent in his capacity as the leader of the State most devastated by the storm.  As I say, his timing just didn't work out.

Rendering his 2016 bid a, er, "bridge too far".

At least he won't starve.