By Michael Aron
Chief Political Correspondent
With Christie tied for 11th in the latest national poll — with Rick Perry, who’s already dropped out, and Rick Santorum — we asked New Jersey politicos whether tonight’s debate is make or break for Christie.
“I never want to say it’s a make or break for anyone because no one knows what the future holds, but I’ll say it’s a very important moment for him. The fact that he’s on the stage is quite good given his poll numbers, but I think he needs to have a strong performance tonight in order to insure he has longevity beyond the next few weeks,” said Krista Jenkins.
“I don’t think it matters because I think he’s a candidate without credibility and I think his campaign has been totally quixotic,” said Alan Steinberg. “First of all, he is running with a record that doesn’t compare with other center-right candidates such as Governor Bush of Florida and Governor Kasich of Ohio. They’ve had great successes. Governor Christie has had the various scandals, Bridgegate, tunnel-gate, now United-gate,” said Alan Steinberg.
When asked to what extent is this a make or break situation for Chris Christie, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick said, “well, since the news cycle is about every two hours, I don’t think there’s much of a make or break event, unless you do something that’s so outrageously wrong that you’re done. And we’ve seen that very few times over the years.”
“I think it’s already broken. He shouldn’t even show up. He should come back to New Jersey and stop wasting taxpayer dollars. There is nothing he could say or do that’s going to save his campaign. And no matter what, he’s going to have the specter of David Samson following him around. He should just pack it in,” said Senator Ray Lesniak.
We asked if Christie is fighting just to stay in the race.
“I think he’s fighting to set himself up for the future. He’ll have a great future. He’ll go on Fox news, have his own show, go on Exxon Mobil’s board maybe. He’ll do good things in terms of making a lot of money and maybe even run for President four years from now. But certainly the time is not now for him,” said Lesniak.
Former supporter turned critic Alan Steinberg senses desperation in the Christie camp.
“I have a sense of desperation because of the interview with Chuck Todd on Sunday when he said ‘stop reading newspapers.’ That was unbelievable. I have never seen a candidate — I’ve been following presidential elections since 1956 — I’ve never seen a candidate make a gaffe like that, to telling ‘Meet The Press’ stop reading newspapers,” Steinberg said.
“I don’t think you simply look at today and determine, well, Chris Christie isn’t doing well. The minute the entertainment value starts to change, Chris Christie comes into the spotlight,” Bramnick said.
“I think anyone in his position would want to see stronger poll numbers given the time and resources he’s devoted to this campaign, particularly in New Hampshire where he’s spent so much time. So, I don’t want to say that he’s struggling. I do think, though, that anyone looking at this would believe that he certainly would have hoped for a bigger payoff relative to the kind of cost that he’s incurred along the way,” said Jenkins.
When asked when it’s over for him, Steinberg said, “It’s been over from day one. He doesn’t have a chance. It would take an act of God and I don’t think God is intervening in this campaign.”
“If he were closer, within the top five or six, sure, but right now there’s no hope for his campaign,” said Lesniak.
So while some New Jersey politicos have written Christie off, others have not. Tonight we’ll learn more.