Taegan Goddard over at Political Wire says it’s “Time to start calling Chris Christie the former GOP frontrunner.”
And he presents good arguments in support of that statement. He says Christie’s main strength was his crossover appeal — the GOP base loved him not — but according to a new poll, he’s lost ground among Democrats, Independents and women and:
Without holding the electability card, Christie has little chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination. It’s just one more example of how quickly fortunes can turn in politics.
Yes, exactly. I seem to recall that in the fall of 2011 and into early 2012, the GOP field had a different front-runner every week. And then the musical chairs game ended, and Mitt Romney, the original front-runner, was the only one with a seat.
So Chris Christie is out of it this week. And next week, too. But who knows what will transpire during the 145 weeks left until Election Day 2016? People are disenchanted with Christie now, but that’s in a vacuum. Whom will they love better? And what will be that person’s “electability?”
The most important question in politics is, “Compared to what?” Or perhaps I should say, “Compared to whom?” And the comparisons have not yet begun.
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By the way, I include that TIME cover as a reminder that, even when national media were lionizing him as the flavor of the day, there was always that ominous, dark, Tony Sopranoesque, New Jersey Boss aura clinging to him…
Watch the Netflix documentary “Mitt” when you get a chance… very interesting behind-the-scenes of the campaign for President. Romney comes off as a decent guy trapped in a process that forces candidates to cater to the media and zealots within the party.
Which is exactly what Romney wanted it to show. I believe the real Romney was the one where he was bashing 47% of the American people while he didn’t know the camera was on. I am thankful every day this plutocrat was denied the White House.
As for Christie, if, and this is a big IF, nothing further comes out of the Bridgegate/Sandygate “scandals” he will likely improve his standing in the eyes of the GOP sheep. He can parlay the faux victimhood he’s immersing himself in now to become a populist hero who stood up to the bad ole lamestream media. That may ultimately work to his disadvantage in the general election but Republicans love this me against the world narrative thereby making him a frontrunner.
And the media, NBC, equates Obama and his “struggles in a political war” with the struggles Army Ranger Cory Remsburg is going through during his rehabilitation as a result of being wounded in Afghanistan.
While I am not a fan of Christie, at least the victimhood he is playing on doesn’t insult the integrity of a soldier wounded in actual combat. Leave it to the media to paint Obama as some type of “warrior” when he is anything but. Maybe a paper cut or two may earn him an equivalent of an office “Purple Heart”.
As for the GOP sheep comment, based on observation, the Democrat sheep herd is much larger when it comes to buying anything Obama puts out. Both parties need to stop following the herd and start exercising some critical thinking and analysis of what is being fed to both by their leaders.
Wow Bart how did you twist Obama’s very kind words toward a wounded warrior into such a cynical attack on the president. Talk about your leap of faith. Is there nothing the president could ever say or do that won’t be construed as some type of narcissistic, self promotion?
I get that conservatives will never acknowledge anything Obama does or accomplishes with anything other than disdain and ridicule but thankfully they don’t own the facts. Clearly Obama has been successful in improving the economy, reducing unemployment and bringing about a major reduction in foreign troop deployments. Even oil and natural gas production are soaring while fuel prices are actually falling in real dollar terms. The budget deficit is way down and the stock market is soaring (that last may not actually be all that important to the overall welfare of the average American but to most conservatives that was once considered the end all of accomplishments).
But pointing this all out is pretty futile. So just call me Mr. Futile.
bud or Mr. Futile if you prefer, please learn how to read and actually comprehend the written word. I said it was NBC who tried to equate Obama with the wounded soldier. But after reading the rest of your fantasy about what Obama has done, it is not a surprise.
Improved economy? Please, enlighten the ignorant masses about how Obama has improved the economy. If you try to equate the unemployment percentage with anything Obama has done, then you are not reading the true numbers that account for the 7% figure. The actual number is still close to 16% because of the millions who have dropped off the rolls of Americans looking for work and a large percentage of the “new” jobs are not new at all, they are either part-time or just rehires going back to their old jobs. Not many “new” jobs have been created since Obama took office. Natural gas and oil production soaring? Yeah, on private land because the government won’t grant leases for oil exploration on public land. And the stock market soaring? Please, the only reason it is soaring as you say is because of the never ending QEs that will continue ad infinitum.
But, I will give him credit for reducing the number of troops deployed on foreign soil. Why commit troops to any country when we are not welcome. It won’t be long before we have no troops deployed outside the US the way our friends are dropping out, one by one.
8 million new jobs, mostly in the private sector since the Bush recession bottomed out in late 2009.
Most of the labor force reduction is due to baby boomers who have retired. Granted, some a bit sooner than they would have liked but still it’s not the dire scenario that is often suggested.
Oil and Nat Gas production on private lands is a bad thing? Not sure I’ve ever been able to follow this conservative critique. Shouldn’t we celebrate that as a success for capitalism? Given the huge number of drilling rigs utilized on private lands there really aren’t the resources to expand further. (As a side note I don’t find all this drilling a good thing because of environmental concerns but it does show POTUS is not the anti oil industry meany he’s so often portrayed).
Glad we could find common ground on the troop pull outs.