CBS News: Polls Show Chris Christie Has a Lot of Ground to Make Up
O’DONNELL: “Chris Christie will enter the presidential race in a few hours at his old high school where he was student body president 35 years ago. The New Jersey governor will become the 14th Republican to run for president in this race. Nancy Cordes is at Livingston High School, that’s just west of New York City, with a preview of this morning's announcement. Nancy, good morning.”
CORDES: “Good morning. He will be giving the speech here in his high school gym. He will argue that what is missing from that very large GOP field is a straight talker, someone who won't mince words. Our poll show that he has got a lot of ground to make up and that he has tumbled over the past year or so from big dog to underdog.”
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CHRISTIE: “I tell people all the time and you know this in New Jersey, if you give it you’re getting it back.”
CORDES (voice-over): “Christie is counting on his candor to help fault him back into the top tier. His campaign slogan ‘Telling it like it is’. A brash approach that has always been his biggest asset.”
CHRISTIE: “I’m the guy who understands this stuff and has done it.”
CORDES (voice-over): “And his Achilles heel --”
CHRISTIE: “Are you stupid?… your rear end is going to be thrown in jail, idiot! … Sit down and shut up!”
CORDES (voice-over): “In his first campaign video Christie explains why he is so blunt.”
CHRISTIE: "I know if my mom were still alive, she would say to me, 'I taught you that in a trusting relationship, you don't hold anything back.’”
CORDES (voice-over): “The 52-year-old governor of a very blue state will argue he is proven, he can win over voters from both parties. He did it here twice.”
CHRISTIE: “I cannot thank the president enough.”
CORDES (voice-over): “He got high marks for how he handled super storm Sandy and for taking questions at town halls.”
SCOTT: “Carl in Medford, you're on Ask the Governor.”
CORDES (voice-over): “And every month on the radio.”
CHRISTIE: “Carl, save me from this guy, would you please?”
NN CALLER: “Hey governor, you can fight for yourself. I know that you can handle him.” (Laughter)
CORDES (voice-over): “But his approval ratings here have sunk to the 30s thanks to New Jersey’s relatively high unemployment, credit downgrades and the Bridgegate scandal, where top aides were accused of conspiring to snarl traffic to punish a local mayor.”
CHRISTIE: “I’m telling you, I had nothing to do with this.”
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CORDES: “And there is no proof that he did. But it still drove potential donors into the arms of other GOP candidates and there are so many of them for to choose from. What that means, Gayle, is he is probably going to have to run a very different kind of race than the one he first envisioned. It’s going to be lean and mean.”
