| A couple of weeks back, I asked if Christie was choking down the homestretch as the double digit leads were evaporating as summer turned to fall and attention started being paid to this race. And while there was plenty of blame to go around - the numerous "drip drip drip" Christie scandals, the continued lack of a plan for anything, the belligerent tone in ads or on television appearances, the hammering he was getting from Daggett, Corzine, Democrats, conservatives and people who were starting to take notice, not to mention his blaming others for running what has been called "the worst campaign ever" - things never really got on track.
But now, it seems like Christie has gone into full "freak out" mode as some polls are starting to show Corzine opening up a lead or being within the margin of error.
He has re-opened the "wrong way Christie" story by saying that he wasn't going the wrong way down a one way street - essentially calling the officer a liar. After talking about how this race was not about "outsiders", he has had republican "superstars" (read: has beens and never will bes) Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani ad Tim Pawlenty campaign for him. There will be a teabagger rally (with him possibly there) since he will be less than a mile away with Joe "You Lie" Wilson.
He hasn't talked much at all about the "tax issue" that has fallen into his campaign's lap but chooses to spend the final week talking about how fat he is (his words, not mine).
And yesterday, he told a caller on 101.5 that he wasn't dead set against project labor agreements when he was asked directly, even though his website and prior comments have gone so far as to call them an "inexcusable amount of waste".
At the end of a campaign, a confident candidate or a candidate running a solid campaign would be hammering home the theme and message in a powerful closing argument. The problem with Christie all along is that he had no real message, he had no self control, ownership in his campaign or discipline and he had no real campaign theme.
Those are the last traits that you want to have or have portrayed in the days before a huge election. And for someone who has been accused of running a putrid campaign - it is amazing that he is ending it on an even worse note than he has been running it for the past few months. |
