During a discussion with Bloomberg Politics’ John Heilemann on Tuesday, CBS This Morning played up how Chris Christie is damaged goods ahead of his 2016 presidential announcement.
In introducing the segment, co-host Norah O’Donnell made sure to point out that “[n]ational polls show Christie’s support is in single digits. Only 30 percent of voters in his home state approve of Christie’s performance as governor.”
After Heilemann detailed how Christie’s campaign will focus on truth-telling, he launched right into what caused his supposed damaged reputation:
He is trying to be in some ways the John McCain of 2016 more, I think, as a matter of necessity than opportunity. He is in a bad place, you know? He was once the de facto frontrunner in the race. He’s now languishing. He doesn’t have a lot of ways to get back but he’s got a narrow path and he’s going to try to get there that way.
Not to be outdone, Gayle King once again brought up “the poll ratings in his own state, John, are some of the lowest that they have ever been” before she wondered “[i]sn't that normally a bad sign for someone who is now stepping out on the national stage?”
After Heilemann admitted that Christie’s poll numbers were not “ideal” he began to list off all the problems facing the New Jersey governor:
He won re-election overwhelmingly in 2013 with a lot of votes from Democratic voters, Hispanic voters, African American voters. He has gone way downhill in the last 18 months on that front. And I think the poll numbers are reflective of the real problem which is New Jersey's growth rate is zero, it’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average, it’s had nine credit rating downgrades in Christie’s term.
The Bloomberg Politics editor concluded by throwing even more cold water on Christie’s candidacy and explained why “[p]eople don’t like Chris Christie:
People don't like Chris Christie in New Jersey because New Jersey is not doing very well. And so for a presidential candidate who ideally wants to sell the Massachusetts miracle, the New Jersey miracle, whatever the state they are from, he doesn't have that story to tell and that is a problem for him for sure.
Nowhere in the segment did Heilemann, or the three CBS hosts, bother to mention that perhaps the media played a role in creating a negative perception of Christie, especially given how the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS and NBC) networks obsessed over the “Bridgegate” scandal which ultimately cleared the New Jersey governor of any wrongdoing.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
June 30, 2015
CHARLIE ROSE: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announces his presidential plans this morning in his hometown. Sources tell CBS News Chris the Republican’s campaign kickoff will feel more like a town hall than a stump speech. He will take questions and will not make prepared remarks.
NORAH O’DONNELL: National polls show Christie's support is in single digits. Only 30% of voters in his home state approve of Christie’s performance as governor. John Heilemann, managing editor of Bloomberg Politics, is with us. John good morning.
JOHN HEILEMANN: Hi.
O’DONNELL: So, you can already see the banner.
HEILEMANN: I’m here to engage in a little jiggery pokery as Justice Scalia would put it. Let’s get down to business.
GAYLE KING: Applesauce!
O’DONNELL: And applesauce. Welcome to the table again. You know Governor Chris Christie, his campaign slogan is going to be “telling it like it is.” I thought the art of politics was telling people what they want to hear.
HEILEMANN: Oh, Norah, you're so cynical! He is trying to make a virtue out of many things, some things about his temperament. He’s obviously a guy with a candid, sometimes excessively candid way of going about his business and he’s also trying to build a policy agenda that is the truth-tellers policy agenda on entitlement reform, education reform. He is trying to be in some ways the John McCain of 2016 more, I
think, as a matter of necessity than opportunity. He is in a bad place, you know? He was once the de facto frontrunner in the race. He’s now languishing. He doesn’t have a lot of ways to get back but he’s got a narrow path and he’s going to try to get there that way.
GAYLE KING: But the poll ratings in his own state, John, are some of the lowest that they have ever been. Isn't that normally a bad sign for someone who is now stepping out on the national stage?
HEILEMANN: It is not ideal Gayle, it is not ideal.
O’DONNELL: But it's a very Democratic state.
HEILEMANN: But -- yes, but he won re-election overwhelmingly in 2013 with a lot of votes from Democratic voters, Hispanic voters, African American voters. He has gone way downhill in the last 18 months on that front. And I think the poll numbers are reflective of the real problem which is New Jersey's growth rate is zero, it’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average, it’s had nine credit rating downgrades in Christie’s term. People don't like Chris Christie in New Jersey because New Jersey is not doing very well. And so for a presidential candidate who ideally wants to sell the Massachusetts miracle, the New Jersey miracle, whatever the state they are from, he doesn't have that story to tell and that is a problem for him for sure.
