GOP no longer going long on Christie?

[herding cats]

The GOP support of Christie's bid to be their presidential nominee in 2016 has become tepid at best.

Inside the Republican Party, the once constant talk of Mr. Christie’s path to the White House has quieted. “I think anything about a 2016 deal, at this point, is on the back burner,” said Ray Washburne, the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.

“He’s going into battle with armor that’s now a little bit dented,” said Steve Munisteri, the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. Potential backers for a presidential run, he added, “now have pause.”

Whatever the lasting damage to Mr. Christie’s political brand, Republicans said, the puzzling traffic imbroglio has laid bare his weaknesses: a stubborn insularity, the absence of a national infrastructure and a tendency to be flip and glib, which haunted him at the start of the bridge scandal.

Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, told an audience at a Palm Beach luncheon on Friday that the governor should have stayed home to “focus on the people of New Jersey.”

“I probably would have canceled that if I were in his position only because, guess what happened yesterday?” he said. “They dropped 20 subpoenas on him, and so now that’s baggage that’s going to come into the conversation he’s having here.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/nyregion/gop-advice-for-christie-pick-a-better-team.html

Now Christie also has the new scandal with the Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, and the withholding of the Sandy relief funds to further tarnish his brand. It's looking increasingly less likely Christie will regain his status as the GOP's Golden Boy for 2016.

With more than 700 days until the Iowa caucuses anything is possible, but there's no denying the fall Christie has taken since his reelection in November as Governor of New Jersey until now.

[DonViejo]

1. The powers that be within the upper echelons of the Party...

might be distancing themselves from Christie but, the money people apparently are not:

GOP Source: Christie Got Standing Ovation At Florida Fundraiser

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/christie-florida-fundraisers-ovation

[herding cats]

3. I wouldn't expect anything less at the fundraisers this weekend.

It's not as if Christie has to address his scandals in these speeches since they made sure there would be no press allowed near him. He's out there selling a message of how the Republican candidates can and will win, if only these wealthy donors throw enough money behind them. Then he'll toss in some ego boost to the mega rich about how many Republicans they've personally helped put into office with their generous donations, and how these Republican politicians have helped further the financial well being of these donors. Wash, rinse and repeat at the next stop.

[giftedgirl77]

2. Not to mention the clear divide between the insane

& psychotic branches of the GOP regarding him. They can't say something bad about him without getting jumped on by their own crazy ass groupies. It's funny to think a guy like Christie is throwing a monkey wrench at them already. They are so screwed.

[herding cats]

4. There is a certain entertainment factor to the whole thing.

It's like watching a building implode, only in super slow motion.