NJ Watchdog: Christie hopes CNN debate begins comeback

On the ropes, Christie hopes CNN debate begins his comeback

With his White House run on the ropes, Chris Christie came out swinging Wednesday night at the prime-time Republican presidential debate on CNN.

Instead of duking it out with the other 10 GOP hopefuls on the stage, the New Jersey governor aimed his blows at opponents who weren't present -- President Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democratic-controlled legislature in his home state.

“In seven short years, this president has stripped away their trust and faith and belief that the next generation will have a better life,” Christie declared in his opening statement. “He’s stolen that from us, and when I’m president, I’m going to take it back.”

He also urged the other Republican candidates to unite against Clinton for her support of Planned Parenthood.

“We shouldn’t be fighting with each other,” he said. “She’s the real opponent.”

And Christie identified himself as an “outsider” – like Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Firorina – explaining that he is a Republican in a blue state.

“I’ve vetoed 400 bills from a crazy liberal Democratic legislature,” he said.

While Christie tried to play nice with his GOP opponents, there were numerous skirmishes between other contenders. Front-runner Trump exchanged sharp barbs with Fiorina, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Rand Paul.

But when Trump and Fiorina started criticizing each other’s track records in business, Christie interrupted with a crowd-pleasing line.

“You’re both successful people – congratulations,” he scolded. “You know who’s not successful in this country? The middle class who’s getting plowed over by Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Let’s start talking about those issues tonight and stop this childish back and forth between the two of you.”

The question is whether Christie landed punches enough to keep his campaign off the canvas. Positioned on the far end of the stage, a half-hour passed between questions posed to him by moderators at one point.

The governor entered the debate needing to score points with viewers to revive a campaign that’s taken a beating in public opinion polls.

Earlier this week, Christie fell to 11th place with only 1 percent support among GOP voters in both the ABC News/Washington Post and CBS News/New York Times polls.

The story is online at http://watchdog.org/238568/christie-cnn-debate/.