Last weekend we called your attention to Chris Christie’s appearance at Ralph Reed’s Road to Majority. When the former New Jersey governor criticized Donald Trump’s leadership, the crowd booed.
But Christie also had some fans in the pro-Trump stronghold.
Here is Joe Perticone at The Bulwark:
Immediately after his speech, I walked to the back of the venue where the candidates exited and a handful of other reporters were staking out. There was a large crowd of younger people—mostly college-aged—waiting for Christie. While security guards were gesturing to clear a path for the candidate, the group was very excited to see Christie and insisted that he pose for a group photo with them.
It was a small group, but their enthusiasm was real. Christie’s actual chances of receiving the nomination are vanishingly small, but he is distinguishing his message from that of every other candidate, focusing his campaign efforts almost solely on one of the most critical early voting states (New Hampshire), and he’s doing it all without any apparent regard for how he’s perceived. (In reply to an interviewer’s question about Trump making fun of his weight, Christie replied, “Oh, like he’s some Adonis?”) This combination is enough to make him a real problem for candidates who aren’t Trump. Just look at some of the recent polls showing him ahead of much of the field, with anywhere between 3 and 9 percent. Not bad for a guy whose reputation in his own party is, as Politico put it, “overwhelmingly negative.”
Read the entire piece here.
I am trying to wrap my head around a pro-Christie group at a Road to Majority Conference. I’d love to know more about this group of young people. If anyone knows, feel free to contact me.