Is Chris Christie The Most Popular Politician In The Country?

The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has some good news for New Jersey’s Chris Christie:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) may be the most popular politician in the land.

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows 41 percent of Americans view Christie positively, compared to just 12 percent who view him negatively. And he gets equally strong marks from across the political spectrum, with 43 percent of Democrats viewing him favorably.

That 29-point split is the best among any politician studied, including longtime leader and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is viewed positively by 49 percent and negatively by 31 percent.

(Her numbers, notably, have taken a hit in recent months; in December, she had a 58/28 split.)

As recently as August 2012, Christie was viewed favorably by 18 percent of Americans and unfavorably by the same number. Of course, that was before the Republican National Convention — where Christie delivered the GOP’s keynote address — and Hurricane Sandy, which brought Christie even more into the national spotlight.

Christie’s popularity nationwide seems to increase notwithstanding the fact that he has recently done things that annoy that hard-right wing of the Republican Party. Of course, given the fact that the same poll showed that 41% of those polled have a negative view of The Republican Party that isn’t entirely surprising. Digging deeper into the poll, though, it doesn’t seem as though Christie has hurt himself with Republicans as a whole and he continues to have broad bipartisan appeal.

  • 40% of self-identified Republicans view Christie positively, only 16% view him negatively;
  • 41% of self-identified Independents view Christie positively, only 9% view him negatively; and,
  • 43% of self-identified Democrats view Christie positively, only 10% view him negatively.

So, if I were Chris Christie’s political adviser, I’d tell him to keep doing what he’s doing and ignore the complaints coming from conservatives.

FILED UNDER: Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Caj says:

    He will try and stay popular but that mouth of his will get him in real hot water as times goes on.
    No matter how nice he wants to be seen as, his manner at times comes across like a bully.
    I doubt subtle diplomacy would ever be something he could pull off with leaders of other countries. It’s all well and good in the US, but that won’t wash with world leaders!

  2. Just Another Ex-Republican says:

    I think a lot of people are simply sick of the “professional” politicians in both parties who seem to put their party ahead of their country. Christie (rightly or wrongly) at least seems to be less concerned about party before country or state. Or, in other words, any time he does something that ticks off both sides as thoroughly as he did yesterday with his special election announcement comes across to non-partisans as good, as he joins them in a “the hell with all of them” moment.

    This doesn’t mean I like Christie–I suspect he’s most concerned about Christie over party, country, and state. But at least he’s not another party line hack and people respond to that.

  3. edmondo says:

    It’s kind of cute when Doug falls in love with a politician. What’s this? the 70 or 80th Christie post in the last month or so?

    Doug, here’s some advice from someone who fell in love with a candidate in 2008: They are all “different” until they get elected

  4. rudderpedals says:

    When so-called RINO Gov. Crist fought for higher office he came out the other end an independent, splitting the center and left, and paving the way for Tea Party infused Rubio to claim a plurality win and the junior Florida senator’s seat. This must be a worry for Gov. Christie as he ponders the future post-Trenton.