New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had less than 24 hours to enjoy his big reelection win Tuesday before he was getting attacked from all sides. Many feel that Christie will take his big win and parlay that into gaining the GOP 2016 Presidential nomination. President Barack Obama called his odd couple political pal Christie Wednesday to congratulate him on his crushing reelection win over a Democratic opponent in the New Jersey governor’s race
Well both his possible GOP challengers and the Democrats are already gearing up to make the road to the nomination a tough one for Christie.
In Washington, some of Christie’s possible rivals for the 2016 GOP nomination criticized the governor Wednesday and sought to diminish the significance of his reelection romp.
The maneuvering comes as Christie prepares to become chairman of the influential Republican Governors Association, which will allow him to crisscross the country raising money and campaigning for fellow GOP governors next year. Democrats said they will attempt to tie Christie to those governors’ most unpopular policies.
Christie demonstrated his strength as a potential national candidate with a commanding victory on Tuesday, winning 60 percent of the vote in a state that President Obama carried handily a year ago. Christie showed broad appeal, carrying a majority of the votes of women and Hispanics and making gains with blacks and young people — all demographic groups that have stymied other Republicans.
The Washington Post reported that Christie might be playing right into the Democrats hands when he starts campaigning along side Republican governors like Rick Scott of Florida, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, where he will face questions about those men’s focus on radical social agendas.
But there is no doubt that Christie is a fighter. He has criticized Washington Republicans for forcing a 16-day government shutdown last month. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a leader of the shutdown effort, called Christie “terrific” on Wednesday but added: “I think we need more leaders in Washington with the courage to stand for principle.”
On Wednesday he got some good advise from a long time GOP leader. “You’ve gotta say that this fella is really on the right track, if the Republican Party is not too stupid,” said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), who went so far as to cast New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez as a potential running mate. “That would make a great ticket,” he said.
There is a very long way to go before the 2016 Presidential elections but NBC News exit polls done Tuesday in New Jersey had some interesting findings. At this time in New Jersey 50% would vote for Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical 2016 matchup, while only 43% said for sure that they would stick with Christie. Clinton is widely expected to be a likely Democratic candidate in 2016, and Christie’s national ambitions have been well-documented.
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