Chris Christie re-elected as governor in NJ
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie easily won re-election Tuesday over Democrat Barbara Buono, launching the GOP star to another term in a deep-blue state and solidifying his status as a top-tier 2016 presidential candidate.
In a victory speech brimming with the cadence and optimistic rhetoric of a future presidential stump speech, Christie celebrated his “big, big win” and suggested that his administration’s message of inclusion could offer lessons to the federal government.
“I know that if we can do this in Trenton, N.J., maybe the folks in Washington, D.C., should tune in their TVs right now and see how it’s done” – he said to an eruption of cheers from supporters.
Chris Christie.
To call it a “race” is almost unfair.
Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., was re-elected as New Jersey governor in a landslide – 60:39 percent over his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Barbara Buono – and virtually no one ever thought the outcome might be different. For months, Christie held a commanding lead in the polls as Buono failed to get her campaign off the ground.
Christie was re-elected with widespread support from men, women, independents, members of his own party, and even three in 10 Democrats, according to CBS News exit polls.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world” – Christie said, flanked by his family, during his acceptance speech in Asbury Park, N.J.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHI_p02R1_o
From President Obama, who twice toured New Jersey with Christie after Hurricane Sandy and then failed to endorse Christie’s challenger, to the Democratic National Committee, which sent just one staffer to the state to fortify local efforts, to major donors and high-profile party leaders such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, powerful Democrats have stayed on the sidelines in the blue state contest that top brass deemed a loser from the start.
The result is a Republican governor cruising to double-digit reelection in a state where Democrats have a 700.000-voter advantage but are losing or breaking even with Christie among independents, women, Hispanics, and young voters, all groups Democrats typically dominate and which Republicans will need to win over nationally to win the White House. The script for Chris Christie 2016 writes itself, and Democrats will have helped pen the first draft.
“When we started looking at his reelect numbers, he was just above 50 percent. That meant he was formidable but movable” – said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Early on, Barbara Buono could have appealed to the national electorate by saying, ‘Look, we need to bloody this guy up before 2016 because he’s the biggest challenge going into that race.’ But she never was able to articulate that… so Democrats stayed out of that race and Chris Christie basically got a free pass.”