A great post from Nate Silver that actually examines Christie’s record, thin as it may be, only to discover that—as one would expect from a New Jersey Republican—on many key issues, Christie is well to the left of the GOP base:
What positions has Mr. Christie taken that could potentially give him problems with the conservative base — as Mr. Romney’s stance on health care and Mr. Perry’s on immigration have?
There are actually quite a few of these:
Gun Control. New Jersey, a mostly suburban state, tends to take a moderate position on gun control, and Mr. Christie has in the past as well. In 2009, Mr. Christie’s campaign rebutted a claim by his Democratic opponent, Jon Corzine, that he stood with the N.R.A. by pointing out that Mr. Christie supported the assault weapons ban and opposed concealed carry laws. A statement on Mr. Christie’s campaign Web site in 2009 said that he supported New Jersey’s existing gun control laws, which are fairly strict.
The Environment and Global Warming. During the 2009 campaign, Mr. Christie sometimes critiqued Governor Corzine’s performance on the environment from the left, and he won the endorsement of the New Jersey Environmental Foundation, the first statewide Republican candidate to do so in 30 years.
More recently, however, Mr. Christie withdrew New Jersey from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program. But while so doing, he stated explicitly that global warming was real and manmade and endorsed the views of the consensus of climate scientists. Mr. Christie has also opposed plans to drill for oil off of New Jersey’s coast.
Immigration. In 2008, Mr. Christie, then a United States attorney, stated that “being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime.” The statement drew a harsh critique from CNN’s Lou Dobbs, who called for Mr. Christie’s resignation, and is a good bet to make a reappearance in one of his opponent’s campaign commercials should Mr. Christie enter the race.
Mr. Christie has received an F from NumbersUSA, an organization that favors greater restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration.
That’s three—count ‘em, three—major litmus test issues for the base on which Christie would fail. The idea that some GOP big whigs are desperately trying to astroturf enough enthusiasm and momentum to propel Christie into the race is simply absurd. If a Christie/Romney dynamic had to exist at all, it would, in a rational world, be Christie who was already in the running while Romney was fending off pleas to throw his hat in the ring.
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