COMMENTARY | People are usually more content with the devil they know rather than the one they don't, but the ongoing turmoil in the GOP presidential primary race has broken with many of the old rules. Judging by the results of the most recent Rasmussen poll, American voters would seem to prefer the devil they don't know.
There is a great deal of East Coast-originated hype presenting Christie as the savior of the GOP.
The latest Rasmussen poll indicates that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is the Republican candidate who right now comes closest to beating President Obama in 2012. In the survey of "likely voters," Obama gets one percentage point more votes than Chris Christie, which speaks well of Christie, but not of the president's performance.
The Rasmussen poll numbers are little more than entertainment at this point, but the price of admission makes the experience worthwhile. Texas Governor Rick Perry outflanked President Obama in polls before he announced his candidacy, and then dropped when he did.
The latest presidential matchup survey pitting Perry against Obama gives Perry 38 percent of the vote to Obama's 44 percent. Available survey polls on the Rasmussen site put Herman Cain within 5 points of being even with Obama. A Romney v. Obama matchup poll puts Mitt Romney within 3 points.
That pretty much summarizes the latest Rasmussen matchup polls. The only conclusions which may be safely drawn from the data is of Obama's vulnerability and Chris Christie's unlikely rise.
I have to say that, should Christie actually become the candidate, I am the sort of "RINO" who would vote for him. But in spite of my surprise at what respectable (or not) east coast newspapers are saying to the contrary, I don't think Christie will run and don't want him to.
The tri-state newspaper stories which are passionately hyping a Christie run drop big names like Kissinger, Bush, and Pataki but most such references are not sourced and even Mitt Romney welcomed a Christie run saying it would "be fun."
Ask Rick Perry how much fun he had in the most recent GOP debate when he got flummoxed and then wrapped around the axle. Perry was smooth and composed when he made a CNBC appearance yesterday, but people will remember his stricken look and a dangling debate response that went nowhere.
For all that, there are Republicans mistakenly counting out Perry, mostly based on practical concerns regarding Hispanic Texans. This crew envisions something like a southwest U.S. Bataan death march where you round up Mexicans and march them across the border.
Self-designated conservative Ann Coulter is a passionate Christie cheerleader and a charter member of this "pure" cabal. I don't trust any of it, frankly, and I don't believe that a perfect candidate will appear like a wraith, saving the Republic from Obama's excesses, and carry us all off to conservative nirvana.
Here's a short list of problem issues which could immediately plunge the poll ratings for a Christie Republican candidacy:
- Controversial appointment of Sohail Mohammed to a New Jersey Superior Court Judgeship.
- Support for climate change legislation, for taxpayer investment in alternative energy, and for expensive off-shore wind projects.
- Christie has supported New Jersey's tough anti-gun laws.
- Christie's regarded as too close to President Obama and has praised many of Obama's positions.
- Christie has expressed support for a path to citizenship for illegal aliens, saying being in the U.S. without documentation "is not a crime."
Anthony Ventre is a freelance writer who has written for weekly and daily newspapers and several online publications. He is a frequent contributor to Yahoo in news pertaining to the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.
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