patrick.net

With Governor Chris Christy having won a heavily Democratic state and with high expectations he'll run for President, The GOP has perhaps their best chance at winning in 2016. He is more moderate, strays a bit from socially conservative issues, and at least from a topical perspective is fairly likable. I'd even go as far as to say that if he were to win, I as a liberal Democrat would probably prefer him over any number of other GOP candidates from the last few elections. That's saying a lot.

So... will the GOP screw it up or simply run with him? They could:

A: Let him run as a moderate and stay out of the way and have faith that more moderate Republican voters are more numerous, and while Christy might not attract as many of the winger votes, he could probably still overcome that by attracting more moderates and independents.

B: Screw it up by turning him into yet another GOP candidate who goes after boogeymen and witch hunts, sets him up with a grossly inappropriate running mate, and appeals only to the outer fringes of the conservative vote.

I think Christy is smart enough to know he needs to stay the course and just be himself if he wants a crack at the White House. To me his popularity should be sending a clear signal to the GOP that his style is working much better than the overly-conservative style the GOP has been trying to use and failing miserably at.

#politics