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Christie’s Dead-End Candidacy

Christie would be fortunate to do as well as Giuliani did in 2008.
chris christie

Chris Christie will join the ever-expanding field of Republican presidential candidates next week:

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will join the crowded Republican 2016 field Tuesday, two people with knowledge of his plans said.

Christie is a good example of how quickly politicians that are touted as rising stars can become so deeply disliked and unappealing even to broad swathes of their own party. I never quite understood the fascination many Republican pundits had with Christie, and I definitely didn’t understand the desire to draft him into the presidential race four years ago. Still, it’s undeniable that he was once held up as one of the future leaders of the party, and he is now unpopular enough inside the GOP that his presidential bid is dead on arrival. Christie now belongs to an unfortunate fraternity of politicians that were once presumed to be leading contenders for the party’s nomination and fell into political disgrace before they could even begin to run. Where Christie had been celebrated as proof that a center-right politician could win in a very Democratic state and expand the Republican coalition, he is now distrusted by conservatives and his own constituents overwhelmingly disapprove of his performance as governor. Sometimes Christie has been dismissed as another Giuliani, but this comparison actually overstates Christie’s chances at the nomination. Despite being more at odds with his party over more issues, Giuliani was much better-liked in 2007 than Christie is today. At this point, Christie would be fortunate to do as well as Giuliani did in 2008, and there is no reason to expect that he will be that lucky.

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