By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Bad polling news at home in a blue state isn’t easy to take, Save Jerseyans, but a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll could prove decidedly more problematic for a Bridgegate-battered GOP Governor looking to go national. Some excerpts:
- “57 percent of Iowa adults disapprove of the way Christie, the New Jersey governor and one of the most-talked-about potential 2016 presidential candidates, has handled the controversy.”
- “Another 25 percent approve, and 18 percent say they’re not sure, according to the Feb. 23-26 poll of 703 Iowa adults.”
- Republicans in Iowa are a little more understanding: 47 percent disapprove of how Christie has dealt with the controversy surrounding his staff’s involvement in closing lanes on the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge last fall as retaliation for a mayor’s refusal to support his re-election bid. Thirty-four percent approve.”
- “Democratic strategist Erik Smith thinks it’s the reaction from independent voters that’s the most jarring: 60 percent disapprove; 22 percent approve.”
Now, for what it’s worth, the Iowa Caucus was always unlikely to be a strong Christie opportunity. The Hawkeye GOP electorate, for example, has a relatively high percentage of religious voters who may balk at the Governor’s less-dogmatic approach to the social issues.
We also can’t forget it’s two years away, and this poll’s reported results concern Bridgegate only, not whether these voters would still consider pulling the lever for Christie in a head-to-head with other contenders.
Still, no serious candidate is happy about performing this poorly in a state which Republicans likely need to carry to win in 2016. He’s trailing Clinton in other key battlegrounds, too. The worst part is that the Bridgegate SCI resolution included a 2-year lease on life of the investigatory panel, and the feds don’t usually move quickly ahead of indictments. This stuff isn’t going away simply with the passage of time. The Democrats purposefully designed it that way.
The Governor can’t wait this out. He needs to change the narrative or resign himself to a plum law firm gig after his time in Trenton is at an end.
But New Hampshire will be Christie country!
so nothing has really changed
Let’s hope he doesn’t go for it.