August is arriving, and we are entering week six of Donald Trump’s rise—first into the double digits, now into first place—in the national polls for the Republican presidential primary race. … The fact that Trump’s very conservative, anti-immigration, militantly anti-establishment, and—most important—angry backers never cared much for the independent and […] Read more »
2016 Endorsements: How and Why They Matter
William “Boss” Tweed captured the importance of the nominating process when he said that he didn’t care who did the electing, as long as he got to do the nominating. … Party elites have figured out that they can nudge voters one way or another by coming to a consensus […] Read more »
Congratulations to Chris Christie on the first big skewed-polls moment of 2016
Gov. Chris Christie (R) emerged from his typical stoic, demure shell on Tuesday to bash a new poll from New Jersey-based Monmouth University and the pollster that conducted it. … “You guys should know by now that the Monmouth University poll was created just to aggravate me,” Christie said, suggesting […] Read more »
New Jersey Could Be a Tough State for Chris Christie to Win
The breakup has been a long time coming. For two years, he has spent more and more time away, openly flirting with others in what looked a lot like a trial separation. At home, he got an increasingly chilly reception. Gov. Chris Christie’s entry into the presidential race moves his […] Read more »
Can retail politics turn Chris Christie’s poll numbers around?
Chris Christie enters the presidential race with a slightly different challenge than his Republican opponents: while many of those candidates are still introducing themselves to voters, he needs to make them reconsider him. Lately Christie has consistently had the largest number of Republicans nationwide saying they wouldn’t consider voting for […] Read more »
Chris Christie’s Path to Relevance
Chris Christie is highly unlikely to win the nomination. The reasons, like his moderate-conservative views and the ethics scandal over bridge traffic in New Jersey, have been summarized elsewhere.But many candidates with little or no chance to win the nomination nonetheless play a big role in presidential primaries, and Mr. […] Read more »