GOP Still Holding Grudge Against Christie

Republicans are not in forgive-and-forget mode in regard to Chris Christie's embrace of President Obama in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Big donors, fellow governors, and party bigwigs remain convinced that he gave Obama a crucial, maybe decisive, boost on the eve of the election, writes Michael Barbaro of the New York Times. The depth of the anger has surprised Christie, "requiring a rising Republican star to try to contain a tempest that left him feeling deeply misunderstood and wounded," he writes.

At the recent GOP governors' convention, for example, Christie had to explain himself in private conversations. "I will not apologize for doing my job," he was overheard saying in the hallway at one point. Victims of Sandy, at least, appreciate that. A Quinnipiac University poll of New York City residents finds that most (36%) ranked him as doing the best job in responding to the storm, followed by Obama (22%), Gov. Andrew Cuomo (15%), and Mayor Bloomberg (12%), reports Politico. Those kinds of numbers should help Christie's bid for re-election next year, but, for now, bigger aspirations in 2016 are a little dicey, Barbaro's article suggests. (More Chris Christie stories.)