DES MOINES, Iowa — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) walked out on stage at the Iowa Freedom Summit on Saturday and resoundingly rejected the “conventional wisdom” that his East Coast style doesn’t play in the heartland.
“If I was too blunt, too direct, too loud and too New Jersey for Iowa, then why do you people keep inviting me back?” Christie asked. He pointed to his warm relationship with the event’s organizer, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), whom the governor described as “a good friend.”
–
Christie faces a litany of other challenges as well. His popularity in his home state is at the lowest levels he has ever seen, driven down by criticism that he is neglecting New Jersey with frequent fundraising trips out-of-state as chair of the Republican Governors Association and persistently gloomy economic headlines about the shaky state of New Jersey’s finances. Also not forgotten by future Iowa caucus voters is Christie’s alleged involvement in the George Washington Bridge scandal.
“I don’t know if I want his hand on the red button if he’s willing to shut down the whole bridge,” said Ben Unander, an Illinois resident who supports famed neurosurgeon and rising conservative star Ben Carson. “He says he didn’t, but come on, if you have a staff full of people, you need to know what they’re doing. Ultimately I think he’s responsible.”
