Keep in mind that this is a CNN poll, Save Jerseyans, and yet the unapologetically pro-Biden network found most Republican presidential hopefuls ahead of Joe Biden in head-to-head match-ups.
Christie leads Biden, 44%-42%, within the margin of error.
Donald Trump leads Biden, 47% to 46%.
Mike Pence and Tim Scott are ahead of the incumbent by 2-points (46% to 44%).
Nikki Haley? 49% to 43%!
Biden is technically out ahead of Vivek Ramaswamy (46% to 45%) and tied with Ron DeSantis (47% to 47%) but all of these hypotheticals are inside the margin of error, and the incumbent is nowhere near 50%.
The bottom line? It’s officially panic time for Democrats whose incumbent was COMFORTABLY ahead of Donald Trump (by several points on average) at this time in the 2020 cycle.
Now, some Christie World sycophants are already pounding their under-developed little chests over these results, but there’s two things to keep in mind before making the mistake of thinking Christie has Big Mo:
- A journey down the crosstabs reveals that Christie is pulling only 76% of Republicans; 23% would vote for Biden, someone else, or not at all. That’s brutal. By contrast, Trump garners 90% of GOP support right off of the bat. A Republican can’t succeed in a general election with one-quarter of GOP and lean GOP voters defecting even with Christie’s narrow lead among indies who are notoriously less reliable voters. The math doesn’t work.
- Christie’s most powerful argument to date (for some) has been that Donald Trump cannot win in November. So much for that, right? Poll after poll demonstrate that that’s not an accurate premise. So if Trump isn’t any less electable than anyone else in the field, then why vote for a “pale pastel” when you can have a bold alternative (h/t Ronald Reagan)?
The real winner of this poll is Gavin Newsom who, despite being a total f— up in California, is charismatic, not hideous (physically), and checks all of the Left’s boxes for radical positions. Rumors of a shadow candidacy are all but confirmed, and today’s CNN survey results won’t do anything to check the volume.
If you’re looking for a secondary winner, it might be Ambassador Haley who is the only GOP hopeful to break out of the margin of error range versus Biden. It might not be enough to overcome Donald Trump in a Republican primary, but assuming she’s interested, it could make her a leading candidate for the vice presidential nomination. I wouldn’t mind watching her debate Kamala! And I’m sure you’d agree.
