Oh, I understand the reasoning – Donald Trump was watching his semi-literate tweets get turned into killer laugh lines at Marco Rubio’s epic rally this morning – but I somehow suspect that bringing in the guy who didn’t survive a primary pummeling to go after the guy who did is not going to work out as well as Donald Trump hopes that it will. It may not even win him the news cycle. All Marco Rubio has to do now is just simply make fun of Chris Christie*.
Mind you: I heard this rumor a while back, and in a world where Donald Trump had had a good debate last night it might have cemented his lead today. As it is… it looks weak on Trump’s aprt. Yes, I know that Christie is a good communicator and attack dog and money dude and whatnot, but note that he’s not in the race anymore and Marco Rubio (and Ted Cruz!) are.
See more from Leon Wolf, who I basically agree with here but I didn’t want to pass up the chance to roll my eyes.
Moe Lane
*I’m not going to, because I’m from NJ and a lot of the stuff that other people find mock-worthy doesn’t really look weird to me. But this is just reactive, weak stuff from Trump, here. And it won’t be the story of the day.
To recycle here the joke I’ve been making elsewhere, this is Rubio fighting Trump right now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LikMS5gDDI
And now that he’s entered the picture, Christie is one of those grenades.
I think Christie is looking for a job . He has worn out his welcome in NJ : a one trick pony does that . The national scene of either party doesn’t need him : Sect’y of Krispy Kreme ?? He’s fairly young and has a lot of time in front of him , but not much of a future . So go for it / you have nothing to lose .
True, Rubio’s on fire today after last night’s debate…but the reality is that he has 17 delegates to Trump’s 81.
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Christie’s real value isn’t on the stump in Texas (although he will be an attack dog asset in the general), it’s New Jersey’s 51 delegates, as you know, NJ is a winner takes all state.
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Here’s how the GOP delegate count is apportioned on Super Tuesday:
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http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2016/02/explaining-the-super-tuesday-primaries-the-republicans/
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Texas is huge for all three candidates, momentum wise, but it’s make or break for Cruz and possibly Rubio too.
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Cruz is leading Trump by 7.2 pts and Rubio is trailing Cruz by 16 pts. Given the apportionment scheme, Rubio’s chances of getting any Texas delegates depends on beating Trump. Even if Rubio carries enough momentum from Super Tuesday to contest Florida, Trump leads Rubio by 19 pts in Florida. Cruz is doing even worse in Florida with 15.8.
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Texas will change the dynamics of course, but do the math.
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Yes, I particularly enjoyed the way that Marco Rubio accurately called Donald Trump a fraudulent coward who maybe pissed himself last night when people called him out on the way that he lies about immigration and just about everything else.
Oh, wait, you’re planning to vote for him, right?
Moe Lane
PS: Dude came out for loosening libel laws in his little press conference, so I would suggest that you just get off of this thread, now. The jackass wouldn’t stop after the New York Times.
Moe, I was trying to inject a little reality re numbers. We tend to get sucked in by the day-to-day media dynamic and personal dislikes/ preferences, but the nomination process grinds on in spite of a good media day or debate. Hillary is also playing the delegate numbers game and why so many Sanders supporters are gob smacked.
However if you want to look at the candidate’s strategy; Rubio’s plan for Super Tuesday hinged on debate momentum. Trump lined up Christie to capture the post debate news cycle, no matter the debate outcome.
Rubio was outplayed by several moves.
Cruz is shrewd enough to avoid a post debate media victory lap and work his home state ground advantage hard. I think he will win Texas and increase his percentages in Florida enough to remain viable until the big states vote.
BTW-My guy always has been Cruz, but I will not stay home and let Hillary win. I stood on my principles in 2012. That and $3 will get me a lousy cup of coffee.
I’m out.
Thanks for all the fish.
Well, that’s fair. As I said, I was rude and I apologize for it, for what it is worth.
It’s worth a great deal, thanks.
… do you think Christie can *deliver* Jersey’s delegates?
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I mean, the Jersey voters weren’t given a very good choice in 2014 .. Christie vs. a schoolteacher with *zero* funding…
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I suspect that, if the Jersey Dems had run a reasonable candidate, they might have won.
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Mew
It is unfair to try to engage somebody after I have tossed him off of a thread. So I will reconsider, apologize for my rude tone, and allow him back on this one.
I apologize, Moe, I did not intend to cause you extra grief.
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Mew
No, my words, my responsibility.
That’s the general election, I’m referring to the GOP primary allocating nominating delegates.
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Christie was opposed by an unknown Atlantic City lawyer and won the primary with 92%, so he can prolly deliver.
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Christie can also open the backdoor to the establishment…cuz those bastards will sell us out.
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The Newt tweeted:
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“Chris Christie endorsement of Trump is a major breakthrough.this is a huge step for Trump and will impact super tuesday bug time.”
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You gotta laugh, we’ve become the malaprop party.
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New Jersey isn’t known for being particularly fertile ground for candidates as conservative as Cruz and Rubio, and Trump is a major employer in the state. Given that, Trump shouldn’t *need* Christie to win New Jersey; if he can’t win without Christie’s help, he really does have feet of clay.
So .. is Trump’s strategery to take Christie off the board, to keep him from endorsing Rubio or Cruz?
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The only reasons it makes sense are Trump needs the help – which would mean interesting things about his internal polls – or he’s removing Christie from the board.
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Mew
There may not be any strategery involved; I’m just saying that New Jersey is a state that social moderates have an advantage over conservatives. They’re the states that candidates like Romney or McCain use to fill out their delegate counts, being home to those moderates who played a big part in determining the nominee in years past. Given the state of the GOP race *this* year, the candidate who best fits that particular role is Trump, curse it all.
Since Trump best fits the profile of a candidate who would win New Jersey normally, and is the closest to the kind who someone like Christie would endorse normally, there shouldn’t be any grand design behind this. Given what we’ve seen, Trump shouldn’t need Christie’s help to win the state, and if he does, he really is weaker than he looks.
I don’t think that’s the case, at least not yet. I’m just saying that making this move because it helps him win New Jersey doesn’t make sense because he shouldn’t need that help.
Let us hope that by the time New Jersey votes, he *does* need it.
No, I’m talking about the primary.
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Can Christie help Trump in New Jersey?
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It’s a simple question – is Christie still well enough liked that his endorsement carries weight? Are your average New Jersey voters so sick of their governor that they’ll vote for “anyone else” .. like Kasich?
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Another simple question, does Jersey require registration by party, i.e. can just anyone vote in the primary, or only registered Repubs? Makes a difference, because Christie is most likely to have cheesed off Repubs by under-delivering, eh?
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Note, I even eschewed the obvious fat-jokes there.
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Mew
Trump has made a big deal about the fact that he doesn’t do internal polling or at least he didn’t before Iowa, Acat. I’d vote for the Christie endorsement being a preprogrammed event to take advantage of what Trump thought would be another successful debate.
We really were hearing rumors about this earlier in the week. Properly done, it would have been seen as a lockdown of the nomination by Trump: instead, it was damage control. And now that there’s finally going to be heavy Super PAC ad drops on Trump, starting today, well. This is why we have elections, hey?
New Jersey is a closed primary state, voters can’t cross party lines.
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>Note, I even eschewed the obvious fat-jokes there.
You’re a better cat than I am, Gunga Din.
The New Jersey Valkyrie is .. a significant layer of ablative meat for Trump to hide behind…
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Mew