Editorial: Would Christie make a good prez?
It’s no secret that our governor, Chris Christie, is debating a run for president of the United States in 2016. While he hasn’t officially announced whether he will throw his hat into the ring, many believe he will do so within the next few months.
In recent speeches, Christie’s focus has been on bigger national issues. Last summer and fall, during election season, he traveled all over the country and helped fellow Republicans campaign for gubernatorial seats. This past weekend, he traveled to Iowa for a Republican summit.
All signs point to Christie announcing his candidacy for president. But would he make a good president?
According to a poll released last week, New Jersey voters don’t think so. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 57 percent of registered voters in New Jersey did not think Christie would make a good president. Almost one-third of Republicans polled didn’t think Christie would be a good president, along with 78 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of independents.
In the same poll, 52 percent of Garden State voters said they would choose Democrat Hillary Clinton over Christie in a hypothetical election between the two.
Christie has won two gubernatorial elections in New Jersey by a wide margin — in a predominantly Democratic state — but apparently our state’s voters don’t think he’d be good for the higher post. It’s not altogether surprising, and not a death sentence for a potential bid for president either. The last president from New Jersey, Woodrow Wilson, didn’t win his own state, after all.
Maybe New Jersey voters just don’t think Christie’s personality would work well running our country. Or maybe they don’t think his politics would work on a global scale. Or maybe they just want their governor to concentrate on New Jersey while he’s still in that post.
