Rand Paul just went after Chris Christie for hugging President Obama, after Hurricane Sandy and just before the 2012 election. He’s speaking to the Republican base. While many point to when the Bridgegate story broke in late 2013 as the moment at which Christie’s decline with Republicans began, it actually started a year earlier. His net favorability rating among Republicans dropped by 16 percentage points between 2012 and 2013. Part of that may have been his poorly received Republican National Convention speech, but some of it is likely because of his embracing of Obama.
