Christie makes it 7

Iowa and New Hampshire have done their job again. The field is narrowing down, as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has become the latest candidate to drop out of the Republican race. The outspoken governor was an early frontrunner in this race, however he was hurt by the Bridgegate scandal back home, and was overshadowed in the crowded Establishment/Governor lane and by the rise of political outsiders like Donald Trump. After coming in at 6th place in the Granite State, Christie didn't believe in the race anymore, as he put all his eggs in one basket. It worked for Kasich, not for Christie, and that is why we are saying bye to him now.

In the run-up to the 2012 election, Chris Christie was widely favored in the party, and thought of as a potential candidate. He was however not yet ready and did not join, despite the fact that Romney received a surprisingly strong challenge from Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich. He did however went on to campaign heavily for Romney later on, who had very promising poll numbers. Then came Hurricane Sandy, 2 weeks before the election, and everything changed. Obama visited New Jersey, and seemed very Presidential as he provided hope for the victims. Many analysts say it that Sandy won Obama the re-election. The Republicans also saw Christie warmly embracing Obama, and standing side-by-side with him, and called him out for damaging Romney.

But eventually everyone forgot that, and in 2013 and early 2014, Chris Christie was seen as the frontrunner in the GOP. So what happened? Well, first came the Bridgegate scandal. Which to be honest is not a huge deal, just an average political scandal. But it was his first one, and thus his background was no longer clean as the wall. His enemies though didn't let it go, and for months it was all what everyone was talking about. It was all he could talk about, and not focus on his policies and personal side. And that is how this scandal hurt him the most. To be honest, the same thing is happening now to Hillary. But she did actually mess up, and deserves to be held accountable. Hello FBI.

So when Governor Christie announced his candidacy last summer, he was no longer the frontrunner, as Jeb was that person, but he was still considered to be a leading candidate who will be in it to win it. Then came the Donald. Christie was  known in the party, and the country, as one of the most outspoken politicians who will say it. Even if that means yelling at a potential voter and loosing their support or enraging the media. Especially enraging the media. Even his slogan was "telling it like it is". 

But Trump was not a politician. And he overshadowed Christie in a heartbeat with all his controversial remarks. He did not even stand a chance. And in the meantime, several more former and current governors joined the race, and he was loosing even more spotlight and donors. His polling also dropped, and was even forced to be relegated to the second tier debate stage in November. He was loosing ground, and was loosing it quickly.

Real Clear Politics

Then in January as the field cleared out a bit more, he seemed to have a surge in New Hampshire. But he couldn't capitalize and it all went away. He did however state that he will only focus on New Hampshire from now on, and that is why he received only 1% of the support in Iowa. But that meant that he would have to do very well in New Hampshire. He didn't. He did ok, but that wasn't enough. Not even the last debate helped, where many people said that he won by destroying Marco Rubio. It was too little, too late. What a shame though.

Chris Christie was one of the smartest and gifted politicians this cycle though. It has to be stated for the records. He is a great debator, and as collected a lot of endorsements, but eventually the curse of the governors caught up with him too. But please, can we have him back in 2020 if the Democrats end up winning now? We are sad to see him go, but his departure will give more clarity to the field in South Carolina, as the party really needs to settle on one establishment candidate to take on Cruz and Trump. Will it be Rubio, Bush or Kasich? He hasn't endorsed anyone yet, but who will his supporters choose now? They will probably split between the other governors sans Gilmore. Who? Yeah. We probably mentioned him more here than the national media all together.

Chris Christie's departure, leaves 7 candidates in the race to become the Republican nominee.

This is an original material of Finchley 1959.