Today Is A Very Bad Day To Be Chris Christie

In the span of just a few hours, news spread that New Jersey gov. Chris Christie, former GOP presidential candidate and possible current Trump hostage, raked in his all-time lowest approval ratings and was opposed as a Trump VP pick by residents of his own state. Oof. New Jersey is not happy with Chris Christie.

According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, not only are Christie’s approval ratings his own worst numbers to date, they’re the worst of any governor, across at least nine states, in the last six years. New Jersey is not happy with Chris Christie.

So it follows that they don’t want him standing frozen, Bambi-eyed, behind Trump’s right shoulder for the next however many years (16 great years, according to Trump; just four terrible ones, according to Ben Carson). Quinnipiac also tells us that 72 percent of New Jersey residents oppose Christie on the ticket. New Jersey is about as unhappy with Chris Christie as it is possible to be right now.

The Quinnipiac two-fer is just the latest indicator that Christie is not a popular guy at home. Per an editorial from Ashbury Park Press: “do New Jersey a favor and quit as governor.” Though there was lots of speculating about a Christie VP nod when he first announced his endorsement of Trump — which came as something of a shock at the time, though in retrospect I suppose we should have known – his name has dropped much lower in the mix in recent weeks.

It’s more widely believed now that Trump will name someone who can give him a claim to some sort of diversity, rather than another white man. The latest intelligence on that front comes to us from — who else — former neurosurgeon/GOP candidate/fruit-salad aficionado Ben Carson, who maybe was not supposed to release that information. According to Carson, five people are currently on what’s being referred to as “the list,” including former Alaska gov. Sarah Palin. Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer or Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin have been the other two names most commonly floated over the last couple of weeks.

"Gov. Christopher Christie is in Trenton until the end of 2017, if he wants to be, holding what is constitutionally one of the strongest governor's seats in the nation. But New Jersey voters give Christie abysmal job-approval numbers. Even a third of his fellow Republicans disapprove," Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll was quoted as saying in the poll’s release detail. "Christie-for-President was a flop and, as far as the local folks are concerned, so is Christie-for-Vice President. Forget local pride, New Jersey voters say overwhelmingly; they don't want their Gov on a Trump ticket.”