By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Barbara Buono may think attacking Chris Christie’s presidential aspirations in Iowa makes good sense here in New Jersey, but for whatever it’s worth, Buono’s low opinion of the Governor is no less prevalent there than it is here.
From today’s new Quinnipiac Poll of the Hawkeye State:
In an early look at the 2016 presidential campaign, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ties New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie 41 – 41 percent. Ms. Clinton tops Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker 46 – 39 percent.
Vice President Joseph Biden trails Christie 49 – 32 percent and gets 39 percent to Walker’s 42 percent.
“President Barack Obama’s problem in Iowa is with independent voters who disapprove of the way he is doing his job by more than 20 points. Since more Iowans consider themselves independents rather than members of one of the two major parties, that is a significant problem for the president,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
In the 2016 Clinton-Christie dead heat, Clinton carries Democrats 82 – 8 percent while Christie takes Republicans 80 – 8 percent and the two split independent voters 36 – 37 percent. She wins women 47 – 37 percent, he takes men 45 – 35 percent.
By a 52 – 41 percent margin, Iowa voters have a favorable opinion of Clinton. Christie gets a 42 – 16 percent favorability, with 40 percent who don’t know enough about him to form an opinion. Biden gets a negative 38 – 47 percent favorability and 65 percent don’t know enough about Walker to form an opinion.
“Christie’s favorability ratio of almost 3-1 is impressive. The question is whether he can sustain it as he becomes better known,” said Brown. “If so, he could be a strong contender in 2016.
“Quinnipiac University has tested Clinton against a variety of Republicans in a number of states and Christie seems to be running the best so far.”
Click here for the full report and data tables.
In other 2016/Christie news, Save Jerseyans, there’s an interesting Salon.com article out today arguing that Christie will likely have to quit the governorship ahead of a presidential run due to onerous Wall Street fundraising rules which would uniquely affect him (and which apparently short-circuited his courtship with the Romney ticket in 2012).
Is that Stephen King the congressman who compared selecting immigrants for visas to "good bird dogs" and who defended Todd Akin´s after his ridiculous remarks that rape victims have "ways to shut that whole thing down".