Am I the only one who thinks Christie is toast in a Republican primary?

[progressive85]

I just see him getting clobbered by every opponent he has.  I think he's terribly overrated.

Mike Huckabee, much less talked about, but I think could get a lot of support as the campaign kicks off.  I even see the Republicans running a very populist right-wing candidate in 2016.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

I could see Scott Walker beating him, besides that, nah.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Actually, I would expect Walker to beat him in the primary.

[henster]

Absolutely, he's incredibly overrated and compared to the other potential candidates has little to offer to conservatives. Republicans are tired of hearing about electability after Romney they want a strong conservative like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul who they think can bring out those "missing" white voters. Also someone like Walker could easily upstage Christie and become the nominee.

And these will haunt Christie  they'll  be played over and over again in ads and prominently on conservative blogs.








Remember what happened to Charlie Crist?

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

After November, if Scott Walker wins re election (most likely) I wonder if we will see a Ready for Walker Super PAC, to compete with the new Ready For Christie PAC.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

No, Republicans want to win.

The split in the Tea Party/SoCon wing will help him a lot. Only Walker can beat him by unifying the field quickly.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

No, Republicans want to win.

The split in the Tea Party/SoCon wing will help him a lot. Only Walker can beat him by unifying the field quickly.

Agreed. Not only does Walker have electability, he is perceived as more conservative than Christie.

[Mister Mets]

I suspect he has a rather high floor. And it's a crowded field.

I don't know if he has an even chance of being the next nominee, but I do think he's better positioned than anyone else.

[pbrower2a]

For his 'heroic' stances against unions, school teachers, students, and environmentalists, Scott Walker will have credentials as the most forceful of conservatives and will get the financial backing of America's economic elite.

Money is everything in Republican politics now, and it will be so two years from now.

[Cryptic]

Overrated, yes.  Toast in the primary, depends on who ends up running.  If there is a credible alternative, like Walker or Bush, then I could see him being beaten.  If his main opponent is a Tea Party/SocCon, he probably wins.

[Mr. Illini]

I don't think he is overrated as much as you are saying. Yes, the images with Obama will hurt him, but the power of the northern moderates is greatly underestimated in the primaries. The southern evangelicals may make the most noise, but the northern moderates beat them in number and power.

I think Walker is more overrated overall. Not necessarily in the primary, but I think he'd be toast in the general.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

No way, Walker would unify the Republican party, and would appeal greatly to the midwestern swing states.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

No, Republicans want to win.

The split in the Tea Party/SoCon wing will help him a lot. Only Walker can beat him by unifying the field quickly.

Agreed. Not only does Walker have electability, he is perceived as more conservative than Christie.

I don't think those two things go together. While Christie definitely has some large obstacles between him and the nomination, the ones between Scott Walker and the Presidency are far larger. To non-Republicans Walker comes across as yet one more example of elitist, right-wing hate-filled nuttery. Most non-Republicans see Christie, on the other hand, as a human being, not a sock-puppet for the wingnuts who've taken over the Republican party.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

No, Republicans want to win.

The split in the Tea Party/SoCon wing will help him a lot. Only Walker can beat him by unifying the field quickly.

Agreed. Not only does Walker have electability, he is perceived as more conservative than Christie.

I don't think those two things go together. While Christie definitely has some large obstacles between him and the nomination, the ones between Scott Walker and the Presidency are far larger. To non-Republicans Walker comes across as yet one more example of elitist, right-wing hate-filled nuttery. Most non-Republicans see Christie, on the other hand, as a human being, not a sock-puppet for the wingnuts who've taken over the Republican party.

I doubt that Walker will be perceived like that, otherwise he wouldn't have a won many moderate Wisconsinites in his elections.

[NewYorkExpress]

Anyone not named, Paul, Bachmann, King, Cain, Perry  beats Christie (and I'm not even sure on Paul and Perry)

[opebo]

No way, Walker would unify the Republican party, and would appeal greatly to the midwestern swing states.

Why would he appeal there?  The Midwest is mostly quite impoverished now.. I don't think they're as amenable to his anti-worker rhetoric as they may have been when he first took stage.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

No way, Walker would unify the Republican party, and would appeal greatly to the midwestern swing states.

Why would he appeal there?  The Midwest is mostly quite impoverished now.. I don't think they're as amenable to his anti-worker rhetoric as they may have been when he first took stage.

If he is re elected, than that claim is invalid.

[henster]

No way, Walker would unify the Republican party, and would appeal greatly to the midwestern swing states.

Why would he appeal there?  The Midwest is mostly quite impoverished now.. I don't think they're as amenable to his anti-worker rhetoric as they may have been when he first took stage.

If he is re elected, than that claim is invalid.

The size of his re-election matters too a big win like Christie is impressive and shows he can win a blue state but a narrow victory in a midterm election with lower turnout doesn't bode well for his ability to carry the state running as President. Walker ceiling in Wisconsin is probably around 53% since the state is very polarized his win may not be big enough for some Republicans.

[Rockefeller GOP]

Some Democrats on this board hold this belief that there really are zero moderate Republicans left, and that's just dumb; we're just not as loud.  McCain and Romney won, both with ease, after going slightly right.  I think Christie is capable of winning without making as significant of an appeal to the base.  Even if he's not their favorite, there are enough Republicans who know that he's easily our best bet to win the White House in 2016.  I'm actually pretty confident that Christie would beat a weak Dem here in Maine.  He has crossover appeal.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Let's see how well he does in his re election. He couldn't have won the last couple times without winning moderates.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Some Democrats on this board hold this belief that there really are zero moderate Republicans left, and that's just dumb; we're just not as loud.  McCain and Romney won, both with ease, after going slightly right.  I think Christie is capable of winning without making as significant of an appeal to the base.  Even if he's not their favorite, there are enough Republicans who know that he's easily our best bet to win the White House in 2016.  I'm actually pretty confident that Christie would beat a weak Dem here in Maine.  He has crossover appeal.

He could hypothetically win the second district I suppose.
He would for sure do better than W Bush there.

[Beet]

Aside from Rick Perry's unfortunate dip into the fray, Romney is the only Republican who had a real campaign in 2011-2012. That is the primary reason for his win. He the only one who had serious money and organization. The other ones were only half-serious and it was a testament to the utter mess conservatism was/is in that those clowns were the only ones that were willing to put themselves out there are the 'conservative alternative.'

[Heimdal]

I think most Republicans view Christie as a conservative. A candidate further to the right would probably never be elected governor in New Jersey. There are of course a lot of people on the right that regard him as “RINO”, but Christie doesn’t need those modern day Birchers to win the primary. McCain and Romney didn’t need the support of the radical right either to win the nomination. He can probably get the nomination just by winning liberal, moderate and somewhat conservative primary voters.  The Tea Party people will come around eventually. 

[henster]

I think most Republicans view Christie as a conservative. A candidate further to the right would probably never be elected governor in New Jersey. There are of course a lot of people on the right that regard him as “RINO”, but Christie doesn’t need those modern day Birchers to win the primary. McCain and Romney didn’t need the support of the radical right either to win the nomination. He can probably get the nomination just by winning liberal, moderate and somewhat conservative primary voters.  The Tea Party people will come around eventually. 

Who is most Republicans? Christie is clearly not trusted by conservatives and compared to the likes of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul he is a raging liberal there's absolutely no reason TPers are going to want to hear about who is more electable after they were told the same thing with Romney and McCain at some point their gonna want a conservative who represents all their viewpoints running not some moderate who seems to lose every time.

[seanNJ9]

Romney, McCain

The idea that Christie can't win the nomination ignores history.