Christie comeback? Still possible but not yet.

via the Christie campaign Facebook page

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

The media is searching for new story lines in this cycle’s unusually long and crowded primary season, Save Jerseyans, and this month it’s a Chris Christie comeback in do-or-die New Hampshire.

“Don’t call it a comeback: Christie’s been here for years” crowed the Union Leader, the Granite State’s paper of record, on Monday.

“Chris Christie returns from the dead” Politico announced last week, noting he’s picked up local endorsements and picked off a few significant Walker donors.

“For a couple of months we have noted that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is performing better than his poll numbers reflected,” WashPo‘s Jennifer Rubin explained, also last week. “He had two good debate performances. He has put out meaty plans on national security, entitlement reform, and tax reform. In TV interviews he has been relaxed and up-to-speed on foreign policy, as he was again on Sunday on ABC.”

via the Christie campaign Facebook page
via the Christie campaign Facebook page

Okay. And for all we know they’re right. There are three months left to go before Iowa votes. A lot can change in that time.

But will it? There are, after all, only three months left to go before caucus and primary voters across the fruited plains begin to weigh in, and this is what we KNOW (not suspect based off of anecdotal observations) so far:

The race has been remarkably stable for awhile now. 

Let’s look at New Hampshire to keep it simple, and since that’s where even the Governor openly admits he needs to break out, it’s frankly all that matters for this post. Look at the RCP average.

Donald Trump has led consistently in every major public poll since mid-July 2015. He led by 12-points in a July Monmouth poll and by 11 points two-months later. While there’s been some change in the 2nd and 3rd tier spots and further down ballot (Christie is currently in 8th place), what’s also interesting and worth remembering is how the “outsiders” (Trump, Carson and Fiorina) combine for a whopping 50% of the NH GOP vote in the RCP average. None of the “insiders” like Bush or Christie have been able to come close to breaking through that wall despite historically strong fundraising and, in Christie’s case, a LOT of time on the ground.

More to the point, Rubin is 100% wrong about Christie’s polling. Christie hasn’t really changed position at all since early 2015, in February and March, when he was polling in the low-double digits and then fell into single digit range. NBC/Marist had him at 6% back in July 2015 when Trump took off and Scott Walker was still in the race. Now? The late-September NBC poll cited by media and allies as evidence of a comeback has Christie at…. 7%. The newest poll and only current October 2015 poll result from Gravis put him at 3%.

Remarkable he’s still fighting given the odds stacked against his candidacy? Sure.

Do we have any objective data supporting the comeback narrative? No.

We’ll see what happens at the end of October when GOP candidates meet once again for yet another crowded debate. I don’t know how Christie can do better than he has already, and those strong performances have yielded NO significant changes for him. I’m not gloating or anything. In fact, regular Save Jersey readers know I was arguing for folks NOT to count this guy out back before it was cool (again?). By the same token, I’m a big believer in sticking to the facts, and what we KNOW, not just what we hope or suspect, in the sport of media expectation-setting.

“Make no mistake: Christie has an uphill climb,” Rubin concluded, and that’s good because, respectfully, it’s the only conclusory aspect of her piece that isn’t purely speculative.

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Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8404 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

13 Comments

  1. Nj needs to become a right to work state. Christie also needsto support NRTW HR 610. Create all states RTW like Walker. Unlike Walker what we call “PULLING A CHRISTIE MOVE ” as a real conservative would give him tons of votes even more then Walker because the NORTHEAST AND NJ ARE FED UP WITH PROPERTY TAXES!!!

  2. Bernie and Hillary both are bought politicians by public unions ! The national assoc. of Teachers is split . They are looking for federal pension bailouts in the future ! both Bernie and Hillary serve only to the public sector middle class !!!This means our local taxes can go up without reforming entitlements. We need all states to be right to work . Support a candidate that supports HR612 National right to work law . The south has cheaper cost of living and everyone retiring there from up north because taxes are too high like in Nj . Support Americans for limited government and and more local. tax freedom. Demand our candidates
    To support our causes!

4 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

  1. Christie “comeback” polling woes signal it’s time to come back home | The Save Jersey Blog
  2. Christie dives into undercard debate | The Save Jersey Blog
  3. It’s official: Christie moving up in New Hampshire | The Save Jersey Blog
  4. Momentum? Christie jumps in New Hampshire’s latest PPP poll | The Save Jersey Blog

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