Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Chris Christie has singularly devoted his presidential campaign to tearing down Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
But with the start of the primaries just a few weeks away, some top Republicans in New Hampshire say Christie is now positioned to help pave the way for Trump\u2019s nomination by siphoning votes away from Nikki Haley, Trump\u2019s closest-polling competitor in the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cChris Christie is a monumental problem for Nikki Haley,\u201d said Mike Dennehy, a former Republican National committeeman from New Hampshire who is neutral in the race. \u201cThey are both currently splitting the Independent vote, and Haley desperately needs those votes if she is to have a chance of knocking off Trump in New Hampshire.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recent CBS News poll backs up that concern. The poll showed<\/a> Trump leading Haley 44 percent to 29 percent, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 11 percent and Christie, the former New Jersey governor, at 10 percent. But the survey, conducted Dec. 8-15 and among 855 registered voters and with a margin of error of 4.1 percent, provided evidence that Christie was cutting into Haley\u2019s prospective vote share.<\/p>\n Among those people supporting Christie, 75 percent said they were also considering Haley \u2014 far greater than the percentages who said they were considering picking DeSantis (24 percent), Trump (9 percent) or Vivek Ramaswamy (10 percent).<\/p>\n \u201cChristie definitely makes Haley’s math more challenging,\u201d said Jim Merrill, who spearheaded Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio\u2019s past primary campaigns in the state and who is not supporting a candidate. \u201cIt’s safe to say that few Christie voters here would ever back Trump, so Haley would benefit if Christie withdrew.\u201c<\/p>\n Christie advisers said no one has asked the candidate to drop out. And there is no indication he is slowing down either. On Friday, Tell It Like It Is PAC, a pro-Christie outside group, is set to begin a $3.5 million TV advertising campaign in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n In a statement, the Christie campaign said \u201cone former presidential candidate and one potential candidate called\u201d Christie \u201cwithin the last week [and] encouraged him to stay in the race.\u201d The campaign declined to say who those people were.<\/p>\n Christie adviser Mike DuHaime said the campaign had seen \u201cmuch less correlation between Christie voters and Haley voters as of late,\u201d while also taking the opportunity to tear into Haley.<\/p>\n \u201cMany Christie voters now see Haley as just another enabler and excuser of Donald Trump and his worst actions, as if she\u2019s really only angling to be his VP, not actually beat him,\u201d DuHaime said. \u201cChristie is 100 percent alone in the lane for those people who believe Trump is unfit to be president.\u201d<\/p>\n Christie himself has called Trump a \u201cdictator,\u201d a \u201cpetulant child\u201d and a \u201ccrazed lunatic.\u201d And Christie has gone after his rivals for their reluctance to take on Trump, saying they are \u201cafraid to offend\u201d the former president.<\/p>\n Christie was prodded by an attendee at a town hall-style event in Bedford, New Hampshire, on Tuesday night to consider getting out of the race so he doesn\u2019t split the non-Trump vote. It\u2019s not the first time this month that Christie has faced such a question.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point eight years ago, I was second in the polls, behind Donald Trump. Right now. And I didn\u2019t see Jeb Bush, or Marco Rubio, or Ted Cruz, or John Kasich, or any of those guys going \u2018oh, well we should get out and help Christie beat Trump.\u2019 But I will also admit to you that Trump was seemingly less of a threat than he is now. So you have to think about it differently now,\u201d Christie said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut here\u2019s my problem. If I were to drop out and support Nikki Haley, I have no confidence \u2014 no confidence \u2014 in the fact that she\u2019ll make the case against Trump,\u201d Christie said. Even if he did drop out, he said, \u201cnot all of my voters are going to go to her, because a lot of the people who are voting for me are voting for me because I\u2019ve had the guts to stand up to Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n A Haley spokesperson declined to comment. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has endorsed her, acknowledged the significance of consolidating support behind her, however.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s only one path to defeating Trump in New Hampshire,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s with everyone getting behind and supporting Nikki Haley. I believe Chris Christie supporters are quickly coming to that same conclusion and are already moving over to team Haley.\u201d<\/p>\n Sununu added, \u201cChris will have to make his own calculations of what he wants to do with his campaign, but the voters are excited, and the momentum is real.\u201d<\/p>\n Those who argue Christie should withdraw from the race note that he has a tortured path to the nomination. National polls show a majority of primary voters view Christie unfavorably; he\u2019s the only candidate for whom that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n Further, Christie isn\u2019t competing in the Iowa caucuses, and his low standing in national polls means he\u2019s almost certain to be left out of CNN\u2019s nationally televised debate in Des Moines on Jan. 10. And while he\u2019s earned an invitation to CNN\u2019s pre-New Hampshire debate on Jan. 21, he\u2019s still fighting with DeSantis for a distant third place in the state where he\u2019s banking his entire campaign.<\/p>\n Whether Trump can be stopped by anyone from winning the nomination has become a matter of debate within Republican circles. With the former president leading early state and national polls by large, double-digit margins, some party strategists think it will be exceedingly difficult to beat him. But in an indication that Trump strategists see Haley emerging as the biggest threat to him in New Hampshire, the pro-Trump super PAC began running a TV ad in the state on Tuesday targeting her.<\/p>\n Those who see a path to beat Trump are also zeroing in on New Hampshire. The state is filled with independents, and the pro-Christie super PAC made explicit appeals<\/a> for Democrats to cross over in the primary to support the former New Jersey governor.<\/p>\n The stakes in the state are high. If Trump were to win in Iowa \u2014 where polls show him with a commanding lead \u2014 a follow-up victory eight days later in New Hampshire could make him virtually unstoppable, many Republicans believe.<\/p>\n New Hampshire State Rep. Bill Boyd, who is also neutral, said each candidate would need \u201cto do some soul-searching\u201d to determine if their presence in the race would ultimately make it harder to take down the former president.<\/p>\n Time is running short.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a candidate,\u201d Boyd said, \u201cyou have to weigh whether you\u2019re going to be viable in this state or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Lisa Kashinsky and Steven Shepard contributed to this report.<\/p>\n