Media pundit:
How Chris Christie's 2016 Campaign Started In 2013
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's re-election victory was a landslide that doubles as a giant argument that he's set to present to the national Republican Party.
Voters:
Exit polls on Tuesday, with the same voters who handed Christie his epic win, showed that in a matchup with Democrat Hillary Clinton, Christie would lose New Jersey 48%-44%.
To be fair to Christie, if he lost New Jersey by just four points, it would be a pretty good showing—President Obama carried the state by nearly 18 points in 2012. But: (a) losing is losing and (b) Christie could not possibly ask for a friendlier electorate than the one he got last night.
What Chris Christie showed last night is that in an off-off-year, it's possible for an Obama-hugging telegenic Republican to defeat an underfunded, little-known opponent in a blue state gubernatorial election. That's actually somewhat impressive, especially in light of the staggering dysfunction of today's GOP (witness: Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe).
But even at the apex of Christie's popularity, it wasn't enough to convince New Jersey voters to pick him over Hillary Clinton. And unless Christie has some sort of magical recipe for winning the GOP presidential primary without veering to the right, it's all going to be downhill from here. Case in point: Christie spent part of his day yesterday declaring himself to be a "conservative," which is actually true but certainly has not been a point of emphasis for him over the past year.
As he moves to the right in pursuit of the GOP nomination, his popularity will fade, and even if he gets the nomination, by the time 2016 rolls around, he won't have a Democratic partner willing to help him move back to the center like he had in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The Chris Christie of 2013 may well be the best hope for the GOP in 2016, but there's no chance the Chris Christie of 2013 will be the GOP's nominee.
