The award goes to Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey: :
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ‘The Hottest’ According to a fresh temperature survey, a political activist in the country.
Voters were asked to give politicians a number from 0 to 100 reflecting their opinion of the number, with 0 being the least favorable or coldest and 100 being the most favorable or warmest. in the fresh one Quinnipiac study on Monday.
Christie’s average score was 53.1, the highest in the ranking. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in second place with a score of 52.1 degrees. and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was third with a score of 49.2, although 51 percent of voters didn’t know enough about her to make a judgment.
President Barack Obama took fourth place with a score of 47.6.
Christie’s next potential 2016 GOP challengers on the list were Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) with a score of 46.8 and Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida) with a score of 46.5.
Four congressional leaders were at the bottom of the list: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (38.4); Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – 37.5; House Speaker John Boehner – 36.7; and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in last place with 33.8.
So Christie is the most popular politician in America today? Fascinating. Conservatives, of course, will bristle when they hear this. Why? Because in many ways he’s seen as an abrasive, untrustworthy, “conservative” governor – you know, the guy who left Mitt Romney out to droughty in 2012 and regularly puts personal ambition above all else. However, I believe that this kind of assessment is completely misleading, if not completely false – and cannot be ignored the GuardianMatt Katz: :
Consider this: Planned Parenthood clinics were closed solely because of Christie (he rejected state funding five times). New Jersey is one of two states in the entire Northeast that does not have gay marriage (it vetoed the gay marriage bill). And the minimum wage remains $7.25 an hour (he suggested to voters who will decide in November whether to raise it).
Christie cut business taxes and provided $2.1 billion in subsidies and grants to corporations. By refusing to continue the so-called millionaire’s tax, he cut taxes on the wealthy. By cutting the earned income tax credit, he effectively raised taxes on the working indigent.
He demonized public employee unions by forcing teachers, police officers and public sector workers to pay higher premiums for health and pension benefits. Despite having one of the toughest teachers unions in the country, he managed to get through several “education reform” measures, such as expansion of charter schools, merit pay, and tenure based on performance rather than seniority. He withdrew from a major project that would have improved public transportation and a multistate treaty that aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Katz continues the list several different “controversies” that could force conservatives to consider other candidates if Christie does indeed run for president: his infamous “bro hugs” with Obama, the nomination of Sohail Mohammad as a Supreme Court justice, and, perhaps worst of all, his decision to spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on a series of special elections. But he adds that given the Garden State governor’s many talents, these three hiccups can be convincingly explained. At the same time, some conservatives already are speaking out that if Hillary Clinton runs in 2016, the GOP will be finished. Case closed. On the surface, this is ridiculous for many different reasons, but mainly because nothing in politics is certain. Additionally, Christie appears to be the only presumptive candidate who is actually associated with… former secretary of the all-important Ohio and apparently more popular than her.
We’ll see if that happens in three years, but today it’s secure to say he’s checked the “electability” box, which, as we all know, is incredibly critical when trying to win the Republican presidential primary.
