Recent News
Crowded primary field creates dilemma for GOP leaders
The rapid growth of the GOP presidential field is causing major headaches for party bosses ahead of a primary debate season that begins this summer.
The dilemma for Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, is stark: If the declared field grows to 18 or 20 candidates, as now looks plausible, how can those numbers be winnowed in a way that seems fair and reasonable rather than arbitrary and undemocratic?
Read More >>How to Read the Ups and Downs of Polling in the G.O.P. Race
The polling roller coaster, as FiveThirtyEight’s Harry Enten put it, has begun. One week the headline is “Ted Cruz Surging in Polls.” Three weeks later, it’s “Marco Rubio Surges to Front of G.O.P. Pack.”
The wave of candidate announcements that began late last month has set off a new phase of volatile polling, when voters will rally behind news-making candidates and move on as soon as the next arrives.
Read More >>Chris Christie: ‘You’re a dead man’ as a public official if you allow polls to drive you
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he’s unfazed by recent poll numbers showing his job approval ratings taking a hit back home, saying public officials shouldn’t be dictated by polls.
“I don’t care, and I can’t care,” he said Monday evening on New Jersey 101.5 FM’s “Ask the Governor” program. “If you allow yourself as a public official to dictate your conduct, your positions, your mood by your polls, you’re a dead man.”
Read More >>Campaign visits continue as presidential contenders stream into Granite State visits
2016 rookies stumble out of gate
The 2016 presidential field is off to a bumbling start.
Many of the White House hopefuls are showing they are rookies on the presidential campaign trail. None of the early mistakes, gaffes or lapses in judgment so far are bid-killers, but they do highlight candidates who are adjusting to the brightest spotlight in politics.
Read More >>Can Chris Christie come back?
In December 2013, Chris Christie dominated the field in the just-forming race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. With a rating of 20 percent in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, the New Jersey governor was well ahead of Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz — everybody.
Now, Christie sits at 4.8 percent in the average, a bit better than Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal, but behind all the other candidates he once led.
Read More >>Top Christie ally defects to Bush
As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tries for a political revival with New Hampshire town halls and Iowa diner stops, he won’t have one of his longtime friends and political advisers at his side.
New Jersey state Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos, who chaired Christie’s 2009 gubernatorial campaign and ushered his agenda through a Democratic-controlled legislature, is backing former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s all-but-certain presidential bid.
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