What Went Down At The ABC Republican Debate

Q: Is Harry Enten jumping back on the Christie bandwagon? — commenter James Prentiss A: I still think Christie has a tough road before Tuesday, but I’m not sure he could have imagined a better performance than he has delivered so far.

“New York values” and, to a slightly lesser degree, “New Jersey values” were put on full display early in this debate, when Trump and Christie did not back away from confrontation. Cruz, meanwhile, side-stepped going after Trump on stage the way he has through the media. Rubio tried to fight off Christie’s attacks but was overpowered. Both Trump and Christie — the two bullish personalities on the campaign trail — jumped on Cruz and Rubio’s weak moment and used it to put themselves head and shoulders above the field (at least for that moment). In fact, anytime Rubio spoke in the rehearsed manner that Christie accused him of, we were reminded of the governor’s words.

That was a top-notch riff against Marco Rubio, and Rubio appeared to be visibly thrown off his game. But what’s notable is that it’s not new – Christie has compared his experience as New Jersey governor to Rubio and Cruz’s role as senators, and he’s offered some very compelling rhetoric in earlier debates. It never seems to make much difference in his public standing. Furthermore, as Harry just pointed out, voters don’t seem to care that much about candidates’ governing experience. This is true in both parties and in the general election, but it seems especially applicable in the current GOP, which is highly skeptical of the idea that government can get things done. This line is pretty unlikely to be persuasive, and a Christie comeback seems far-fetched. Running against Congress is also a little odd if you think about it – sure, it’s unpopular, but this doesn’t seem to have hurt Republicans in actual Congressional elections recently. What’s the goal here? Christie is far enough behind that this strategy is a little baffling. If he’s angling for vice-president, this seems like an odd strategy. An independent run, also unlikely. Running for another office? Becoming Secretary of State? He better hope Rubio doesn’t get the nod in that case.