By David Cruz
Correspondent
Back in June when he officially announced his candidacy, Chris Christie said he was “all in” in New Hampshire. But even though he’s been back a half dozen times since, the more time he spends in New Hampshire, the more ground he seems to lose in the polls. Take, for example, the latest poll from Monmouth University, out today.
That poll shows Donald Trump leading the pack at 24 percent, doubling Jeb Bush’s 12 percent. To find Christie you’ll have to look all the way down to eighth place.
Poll Director Patrick Murray says Christie’s “all in” in New Hampshire strategy is — at this point — not working.
“Chris Christie is not gonna do well in any place but New Hampshire, so he has to bring those numbers up in New Hampshire,” said Murray. “Pretty much he’s gonna have to come in first or second in New Hampshire if he wants to continue on in this campaign, so he’s got a lot of work to do.”
The problem for Christie, it seems, is his buddy, Donald Trump, whose shoot from the hip style has made him the “tell it like it is” candidate, to the detriment of the Christie campaign. But Politifax Editor Nick Acocella says this too will likely pass.
“We are all entertained by Donald Trump, but Donald Trump is not gonna be the nominee,” he said, “and, in some ways, I think he’s doing Chris Christie a favor by taking all the thunder of the craziness of tell it like it is. I think Christie wants to be the sensible guy who’s telling it like it is. And the contrast is very, very real.”
Christie, who has walked a fine line when it comes to denouncing Trump’s more outlandish comments, made perhaps his strongest statement on the issue yesterday, responding to a question at a town hall about the differences between the two.
“If the goal here is to find the person to be president of the United States who can get the most attention, he’s gonna win hands down,” Christie told the questioner. “If it is the person who can most effectively govern our nation and deal with the rest of the world, I’d suggest to you that I’m in this race because I think I’d be better at it than he would. You have a different opinion, then vote for him; it’s fine by me. I don’t need to get every vote, I just need to get more than anybody else.”
Matt Arco, a reporter with NJ Advance Media, has been following the governor in the Granite State, where, he says, the reception has been excellent. “It’s definitely a tough question with no easy answer and I think what the governor is planning is to continue to talk to folks here in New Hampshire and hope that, over time, that has a positive effect for him.”
There is some good news in the poll. Among voters who had a second choice for president, Christie fares much better, coming in third with 8 percent, tied with Marco Rubio. Even so, Murray says the governor still has a lot of hands to shake and a lot of babies to kiss.
“Yeah, I think basically that’s what he has to do because he’s got to win over a large majority of those who would potentially give him support,” he said.
It’s tough to put much stock in a poll on a primary that’s six months away, but, in order to participate in the first televised debate next month, Christie has to average a top 10 finish, and, in that regard at least, this poll doesn’t hurt as much at it would appear.