In the weeks since the Bridgegate scandal began, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has for the most part tried to avoid the spotlight, adopting a wait-and-see strategy in hopes that no further evidence of corruption within his administration will surface and the public's notoriously short memory will shield him from suffering an irreversible amount of damage in advance of his run at the White House in 2016. This approach was never anything more than the least-worst option available to Christie, but if a newly released poll is anything to go by, it looks like keeping out of the news cycle won't be enough to save Christie from public disapproval.
Here's the latest news for the one-time GOP frontrunner:
- A new poll from Monmouth University and Asbury Park Press shows Christie's approval rating in New Jersey to have dropped to 50 percent, down 9 points since last month, 15 points since two months ago, and 20 from his all-time high in February of last year. Perhaps most worryingly for the governor, the poll also finds that a majority of respondents think his temperament isn't suited for the Oval Office. Another red flag? Roughly half of the poll's respondents now say Christie had something to do with Bridgegate, a 16-point increase in just one month.
- Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich's lawyer confirms that his client recently met with members of the U.S. Attorney's office.
- While Christie's fortunes in his home state may be fading, he's still got at least one group willing to back him: His fellow Republican governors. A USA Today report finds that Christie's fellow members of the Republican Governors Association (of which he's chair) are, at least on the record, standing by Christie. The fact that Christie continues to rake in serious dough for the RGA is no doubt a factor in their decision.
- Meanwhile, the Working Families Alliance, a New Jersey grassroots group of labor unions and community organizers, has released a new Christie-themed bumper sticker. It says: "If you can read this ... Chris Christie probably ordered another traffic jam." They're giving one away for free and asking for a donation for more after that.
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