Christie's chances unclear

From our vantage point in the Midwest, it’s not entirely clear what to make of the flap over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
It’s clear, of course, that some of the people surrounding Gov. Christie used bullyboy tactics against a political opponent.
 It’s clear in doing so they inconvenienced thousands of commuters. And it’s equally clear Gov. Christie’s two-hour press conference was less than satisfactory when it comes to putting things to rest.
What’s not clear is the politics of the whole thing.
Predictably, Democrats and their friendly talking heads have delighted in being able to knock the New Jersey governor. He’s been viewed as a potential Republican presidential candidate who could appeal to independent voters.
But the most vituperative, biting criticism is coming from the Republicans themselves, specifically those conservatives who have absolutely no interest in seeing Christie as the standard-bearer for their party in 2016.
Anyone listening to Fox News last week would have heard the harshest barbs for Christie coming from conservative commentators often aligned with the Tea Party wing of the GOP.
By comparison, Democratic jibes were relatively muted.
From here, it’s hard to determine how much of that is the echo chamber of inside politics and how much will matter a year or two from now.
Would Gov. Christie make a strong GOP nominee against a Hillary Clinton or a Joe Biden? Maybe.
Is there a chance that he’d actually win his party’s nomination? The jury is still out on that one. — J.R.

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