By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
By both definitions of the word?
Context: Governor Christie told Diane Sawyer last month that “they love me in Iowa,” Save Jerseyans, but a new Suffolk University poll out Wednesday strongly suggested that the steady drumbeat of Bridgegate news, manufactured or not, is close to ending the presidential aspirations of the man who these same polls reported could give the GOP its best chance of defeating Hilldawg in 2016.
Or not…
Today’s poll found Christie polling at only 7% in Iowa behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (11%), Sen. Rand Paul (10%), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (10%), Sen. Ted Cruz (9%), and Dr. Ben Carson (9%); Christie edged out six other contenders all registering only 6%: Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, Condoleezza Rice, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, and Scott Walker.
Click here to view the data tables from Suffolk’s interviews with 224 likely Republican Iowa primary voters.
Coupled together with the uncertainty associated with a grand jury’s machinations and the slow bleed of staffer departures, it’s reasonable to assume that the Governor’s chances of mounting a successful presidential bid are growing very long. The real danger? Christie’s legal woes are likely to keep him tied up well into 2016 (or beyond) regardless of whether he actually did anything wrong.
That’s the bad news.
Now for the not-so-bad news…
Other public polling shows the Governor holding his ground and persistently more popular than leading Democrats at home. Most polls still show him performing the strongest of any likely GOP candidate in a head-to-head with Clinton. He also remains a darling of donors.
Nor does he need to win Iowa. A 6th place finish isn’t helpful, sure, but plenty of Democrat and Republican nominees of years past get creamed (or pass, as did John McCain) on Iowa only to regain their mojo in New Hampshire and/or South Carolina. [For example, the media didn’t trumpet a poll from last month showing Christie tied for 1st place in New Hampshire with Rand Paul].
The leader in this particular crowded Iowa poll, Mike Huckabee, is an ideal candidate for the religious conservative Iowa GOP electorate, yet it’s worth noting that the front of the pack and the rear guard are separate by only 5-points.
There’s no front runner. Not anymore. That’s the only story here.
So yes, folks are jumping overboard from the S.S. Christie right now, Save Jerseyans, but it’s not wise for the rest of us (regardless of whether we’re on the boat to begin with) to go overboard and declare Christie for POTUS DOA on the basis of this survey. He’s taking in water but still floating…
Oh f***. Huckabee, Bush, Christie, Rubio, or Santorum? I’ll take Hillary first.