Remember when Republicans were over the moon for Chris Christie? There was a period when YouTube videos of him shouting down some uppity teacher or other constituent were gleefully forwarded from conservative to conservative; here was a guy who knew how to put liberals in their place! He was a tough-talking former prosecutor who knew how to win in a blue state! Before the 2012 election, GOP megadonors were imploring him to run for president, but he decided to hold off for 2016. And now, no one's begging. In this poll in New Hampshire, he comes in sixth, with 4.6 percent of the vote. In this Iowa poll, he's tied for seventh place, with 4 percent.
So what the heck happened? It isn't that hard to figure out. Most broadly, people actually began thinking about the presidential campaign. Primary voters thinking about the presidential campaign had other potential candidates they could compare Christie to. And as it turns out, whoever you are and whatever your priorities, there's at least a candidate or two who is more appealing than Christie. Looking for a conservative fire-breather? There's Cruz or Huckabee or Carson or any number of others. Want an older, steadier type? Jeb Bush is your man. Looking for a governor? You've got Walker or Jindal or Bush. In short, nothing about Christie is unique, other than his attitude.
And it turns out that attitude doesn't wear all that well. Christie's tough-talkin' schtick, while great for generating momentarily compelling video clips, doesn't have a lot of purchase on the primary campaign trail, where you spend most of your time not sparring with constituents but begging your own people to vote for you.
I suppose it's possible that once the candidates start debating, Christie can yell at his opponents and remind Republican voters of what they liked about him, namely that he's kind of a jerk. But that's probably not enough to build a campaign on.
