LOS ANGELES.–Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Chrstie, 61, has been pressured to get out of the GOP race due to his poor national and statewide polls, showing that ony 51-year-old former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley has a shot of beating former President Donald Trump in any upcoming primaries. Christie mounted an attack campaign against Trump, saying he wasn’t fit to run for president or “beneath the dignity of the office.” No question Christie ran a campaign built on assuring that Trump was defeated in the primaries. But instead of gaining traction as many expected, Christie has been near the bottom of the heap, running at about 2.9% nationally. When it comes to state polls, Christie also runs far behind Trump or other GOP candidates like Haley and 38-year-old biotech engineer Vivel Ramaswamy. Neither Haley nor Ramaswamy have focused their campaign on slamming Trump.
Christie has had nothing good to say about Trump, talking only about the former president’s weaknesses, especially his 91 indictments, something Cristie thinks should compel Trump to drop out. A recent CBS polls showed Trump leading Haley in New Hampshire 44% to 29%, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Christie getting 10%. “They’re both currently splitting the independent vote and Haley desperately needs those votes if she is to have a chance of knocking off Trump in New Hampshire,” said Mike Dennehy, formerly with the RNC in New Hampshire. “Chris Christie is a monumental problem for Nikki Haley,” Dennehy said, turning up the heat on Christie to get out. Christie talked of joining Haley’s camp to work toward beating Trump in New Hampshire. Christie thinks Haley has been reluctant to take on Trump through the GOP campaign.
So far, Christie has resisted calls to drop out largely because he sees himself as the only one that could stop Trump. Christie says other GOP candidates, especially Haley and Ramawamy, have been reluctant to attack Trump largely out of fear. But Haley has made clear she thinks there are other more pressing issues to talk about including dealing with crime, the Mexican border, Democrats’ woke agenda or pushing climate change to the point of wrecking the American Dream. Christie’s Tell-it-like-it-is PAC has already committed to spending $3.5 million in New Hampshire political ad buys. Christie said an unnamed presidential candidate told him to stay in the race but refused to say who. “Many Christie voter now see Haley as just another enabler and excuser of Donald Trump and his worst actions, as if she’really angling to be his VP, not actually to beat him,” said adviser Mike DuHaime.
Haley has made clear her reluctance, like Christie, to bash Trump has to do with it as a bad political strategy, destined to boomerang. Haley has forcefully rejected Trump’s politics but sees no advantage to her campaign in slamming Trump. Christie insists that Haley fears Trump’s backlash, refusing to go after him. “But here’s my problems. If I were to drop out and support Nikki Haley, I have no confidence—no confidence—in the fact that she’ll make the case against Trump,” Christie said. Christie knows that he has no chance to changing voters’ minds before the Jan. 15 Iowa Caucuses. Christie doesn’t think that most of his voters would for Haley because of her reluctance to go after Trump. Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said the only path to beating Trump in New Hampshire is getting behind Nikki Haley, urging Christie to drop out.
Sununu sees the math as bad for Haley unless Christie throws in the towel. “There’s only one path to defeating Trump in New Hampshire,” said Sununu. “That with everyone getting behind and supporting Nikki Haley. I believe Chris Christie supporters are quickly coming to that same conclusion and are ready moving over to team Haley,” Sununu said. Haley has pulled into a dead heat with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, taking the lead in New Hampshire. Sununu doesn’t know if Christie drops out it would give Haley a shot of beating Trump in New Hampshire. Besides, when primaries shift to South Carolina, there’s no guarantee that Haley would pick up more momentum in her home state. Sununu assumes that Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina GOP voters look for a replacement for Trump. Trump’s lead continues to grow with time.
Christie doesn’t have much time left to suspend his campaign and support Haley. Christie didn’t’ resonate with GOP voters for the same reason as in 2016. His snarky attitude doesn’t translate into popular appeal. Instead of running a real campaign talking about real issues facing the country, Christie chose to spend his time bashing Trump, a strategy that backfired. As Sununu says, dropping out would give Haley the best shot in New Hampshire. Chritie can’t see his weakness as a GOP candidate. He offers no real separation from Biden on the Ukraine War. Christie and Haley offer nothing new, other than perpetual war with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unless Haley changes her tune on Ukraine, she can expect in 2024 voters to reject her campaign because of its similarity to Biden. GOP candidates must show they differ with Biden on foreign policy and national security.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
