While Gov. Chris Christie may be a rising star in the Republican Party, just one-fifth of the state’s voters say they’d support any bid for the White House in 2012, according to Rutgers-Eagleton poll.
Only 22 percent of registered voters said they back a potential presidential run by the 48-year-old first-term Republican, the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University said in a report today. Almost two-thirds said they oppose a Christie candidacy.
“The governor continues to deny any interest in running for president in 2012,” said David Redlawsk, director of the poll and professor of political science at Rutgers. “Given these numbers, that’s a pretty good thing. Every time we’ve asked about a presidential run, New Jersey voters have overwhelmingly opposed the idea.”
The findings come three days after a Gallup survey showed more than half of Americans said they had no opinion of him at all. Christie has made national headlines for battling government unions and slashing spending to close a $10.7 billion deficit without raising taxes.
The governor, speaking Wednesday before the Rutgers-Eagleton poll’s release, told reporters he won’t run for the presidency in 2012.
“I have probably said more than a hundred times, I am not a candidate for president of the United States in 2012 and I’m not a candidate for vice president,” Christie said at a press conference in Trenton, the capital. “If any of you can find any wiggle room on that, suggest to me how you do it, because I will nail the door the rest of the way shut.”
Thirty-six percent of voters in the Eagleton poll said having a governor on the national stage helps New Jersey’s image, while 21 percent say it hurts the state. A Christie presidential run has the backing of 44 percent of Republicans and 8 percent of Democrats.
The poll surveyed 773 registered voters by phone March 28- April 4, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
(Source: Bloomberg News)
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Attention: All conservatives who believe I am a die-hard, mindless doctrinaire liberal lefty (I think there are 3 of you). Call your cardiologists, have your beta blockers ready, and read this:
Governor Christie is wise to keep himself out of the 2012 presidential race (and not because it is a likely loser for any Republican, even a sensible Republican like Mr. Christie). By devoting himself to the governing of New Jersey, he can build a genuine track record of accomplishment at addressing the tough fiscal issues of New Jersey government. If he succeeds (of which there can be no certainty), then by 2016, he will be a candidate of genuine accomplishment and meaningful experience. If he succeeds, it will be because he will have demonstrated that he has learned the political art of compromise and the political wisdom of moderation.
The current White House incumbent possesses these qualities (i.e., politically artistic compromise and politically wise moderation), but the barrenness of his pre-2008 track record as a public administrator, coupled with the determination of his die-hard opponents to see him only as a left-wing communist socialist foreign-born Manchurian-candidate left-wing communist socialist Muslim lefty Muslim foreigner), has enabled his opponents to hamper the effectiveness of his administration. He will, nevertheless, prevail in 2012 because of (a) the qualities and judgment he has amply demonstrated in his first term, and (b) the mediocrity (to date, at least) of the Republican alternatives.
I anticipate that the fiscal problems of the federal government, and the economic anemia of the US, in 2016 will resemble the current state of affairs, as I anticipate that the Republican opposition will continue to impair the ability of the federal government to implement policies that will cure the economic anemia. That could set the stage for a successful Republican presidential candidate, and if America is lucky, and I am right about Mr. Christie’s capacity for learning from his experience as New Jersey’s governor, and if the Republicans pick a sensible nominee (of which there can be no certainty), that nominee would be Mr. Christie, and he would be a formidable candidate.
So all you self-labeled Obama- and nfgo3-doubters, need any oxygen?
Well, Woodrow Wilson managed to get re-elected in 1916 while losing his home state of New Jersey. That was the last time that happened; maybe Christie can pull it off, too.
Of course, the Lichtman keys still favor an Obama re-election by two keys. They last failed in 1856.
Don’t kid yourself christie is a populist, hes not really a pro constitution conservative, hes working to fix N.J budget because thats whats popular. He himself is liberal and would be a disaster as a president, he has no core conservative values have you ever heard him speaking forcefully upholding conservative values? such as pro life pro guns, privacy, small government, nothing. He fights around alot so it gets him popular He is not what this country needs Trust me!
We in NJ live with Christie…you might ask why as a collective NJ residents think much less of him than is indicated in national poll results.
A good part of the reason is that he is demagogic and always combative…he whips up audiences about teachers and unions with half truths and falsehoods, something that the Star Ledger tracks pretty well…NY Governor Cuomo achieved impressive budget reductions, while getting the budget in on time for the first time in many years, in a process that brought all major players into the budget-making tent. Christie, by contrast, viciously attacks anyone and everyone he opposes…polls here indicate that a growing number of New Jersians are fed up with it.
1.
Actually I wouldnt want him to run either and NOT because the Republican will lose according to your n’vuah, but because he is NOT a Conservative! Which reminds me you are proving chazal correctly by being a “novi.”
A true conservative ‘should’ TROUNCE Obama in the election. When a RINO, aka Democrat Lite, runs, people vote Democrat. The only thing going in the Republican favor would be that only 19% of the population is of the belief that Obama can do no wrong. Those 19% are made up of his brothers as well as the rest of the Drones in the country of which you are one.
#4, I wouldnt vote for him in a primary either. I have no problem with his being “combative” as you claim. I would rather have someone “combative” than someone who is an arrogant condescending no good socialist – i.e., Barack Hussein Obama mmmm mmmm mmmm!
Anyone BUT Obama in 2012!!
#4 Cuomo has not been in office long enough, and yet a lot of NYers are not happy with him. Also NJ is a blue state and so is NY. Christie is a GOPer that could also explain the differences. Btw from what I have seen, Obama is far worse when it comes to attacking opponents, it should actually scare all Americans when he attacks specific members of the media.
No. 5: Can you explain to me by the use of “mmmm mmmm mmmm” following the full name (including the evil middle name) of the president. I have noticed the use of that “phrase” (or whatever it is) following his name by various posters on YWN and elsewhere. The only thing it means to me is an allusion to Campbell’s tomato soup, which is (or used to be) advertised with the slogan “‘mm, ‘mm good”. Perhaps to people with a tomato allergy, it means “red menace.” Or are you suggesting that Mr. Obama receives excessive financial support from The Campbell Soup Company.
For all you conservatives who think I am a fool, here’s the proof you have been waiting for: I thought the people of New Jersey who opposed a Christie candidacy for US president did so because they want him on the job as governor of New Jersey. How stupid can I get?
re # 6 – yswo, you could not possibly say what are saying here after you look at videos of Christie “town meetings” or press conferences; among governmental chief executives, he’s in a league all his own.
#5 Mr. Levin, the liberal wing of the Democrat party calls him a sell out, with liberal Democrat House members abandoning him on today’s budget vote – and you call him a Socialist – that would place him towards the center, now wouldn’t it.
7. Barack Hussein Obama mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm comes from a teacher in NJ who had her young skulls full of mush sing a song about Obama’s “greatness” after being in office for only 4 weeks. YouTube it and see for yourself.
# 9 – you could not possibly say what are saying here after you look at videos of Obama’s “town meetings” or press conferences; among governmental chief executives, he’s in a league all his own.
See how easy that is when you just use rhetoric and no facts?!!
#12 – Talking about yourself?
Exactly my point, you cannot think of any logical response.