Fresh off filing the paperwork to seek re-election, Governor Chris Christie woke up Tuesday to some impressive polling numbers. A new Quinnipiac poll shows the New Jersey Republican’s approval rating at an all-time high of 72%.
Christie may be pretty popular right now, but what’s even more popular is Christie’s praise of President Obama’s handling of the crisis. That got the approval of 84% of Garden State residents, including 69% of Republicans. The lesson: voters like bipartisanship.
The rest of the GOP doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo. House Speaker John Boehner is telling President Obama that he has the leverage in the fiscal talks. Majority Leader Eric Cantor is insisting that Obamacare should be “put on the table” too, even though it’s been upheld by the Supreme Court, a majority of Americans oppose repealing the law, and voters just rejected the candidate who wanted to repeal it. Even as Republicans are rejecting Grover Norquist, they don’t appear to be willing to sign on to higher taxes. Perhaps that’s why not even 1 in 5 Americans approves of Congress.
If “compromise” is a dirty word in the GOP, “moderate” might be even worse. Republicans are already criticizing Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) after she announced she’ll run for Senate in 2014, with two big conservative groups complaining she’s too liberal.
Perhaps they should take a lesson from their buddy in New Jersey.
Morgan Whitaker