Christie and Fiorina Quit GOP Presidential Race

Christie doesn't surprise me, but Fiorina said she'd stay in the race all the way to the convention. She must be strapped for cash, and after such a promising surge for a while last year.

At the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "Chris Christie Drops Out of Race After New Hampshire Flop."

And at Politico, "Carly Fiorina quits 2016 race."

Chris Christie Missed the Cut for GOP Debate in South Carolina Saturday (VIDEO)

Background at Politico, "Kasich, Christie and Fiorina need strong N.H. finishes to make CBS debate."

At the Newark Star-Ledger, "Christie's presidential bid is over, political pros say":

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie is still waiting to exhale, but Republican experts are saying the New Jersey governor is all but certain to end his presidential campaign in New Jersey sometime Wednesday.

"We're going to go home to New Jersey tomorrow and take a deep breath," Christie told supporters in Nashua, N.H., late Tuesday evening after the New Hampshire presidential primary.

The goal, Christie said, is to "see what the final results are tonight — 'cause that matters — whether we're sixth or fifth."

A sixth-place finish would mean Christie wouldn't qualify for the ninth GOP debate, scheduled for Saturday in South Carolina under criteria for admission CBS released late Tuesday. He needed to be in the top five in New Hampshire...

More.

Fiorina won't make it either. And she's gonna whine about sexist treatment by CBS. (Ben Carson won't make it either. These dum-dums need to drop out, sheesh.)

Also at Memeorandum.

Rand Paul Goes After Chris Christie on National Security in GOP Presidential Debate (VIDEO)

More debate moments like this, please!

Watch, at Fox News, "Chris Christie, Rand Paul spar over NSA — Fox News Republican Debate."

A Messy Divorce for Chris Christie and MSNBC

I saw something on this earlier, at Politico, "Chris Christie aide slams MSNBC’s hurricane-fund ‘assault’."

And now over at the New York Times, "For Christie and MSNBC, a Messy Divorce Plays Out in Public View":

It was a match made in moderately minded Northeast Corridor heaven.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey needed a TV network that would burnish his bipartisan bona fides and showcase his gleefully contrarian style. MSNBC craved a Republican who cut against the party grain and lit up the screen with his everyman-ish, Springsteen-loving spontaneity.

An on-air romance blossomed, forged over chummy strolls along the Jersey Shore and heart-to-hearts in the studio about everything from overeating to education, embodying the aisle-crossing aspirations of this partisan era.

Now, the improbable relationship between a governor with his eyes on the White House and a network determined to break into the top tier, up to now so beneficial to both, has curdled in a spectacularly public fashion.

Mr. Christie is confronting the worst crisis of his career, stemming from his aides’ role in shutting down approach lanes to the George Washington Bridge. The governor’s predicament is a ratings bonanza for MSNBC, whose left-leaning viewers are eating up every development in the sordid scandal.

Over the weekend, Mr. Christie, who has appeared on MSNBC many times since taking office, angrily denounced it as a “partisan network” that is “almost gleeful in their efforts attacking” him. Christie aides have called it a “feeding frenzy.”

“There is a difference between treating this matter seriously and seeking out the truth and irresponsibly using hearsay and conjecture without confirming the facts,” Colin Reed, a spokesman for Mr. Christie, said on Sunday. Feelings are frayed on both sides. Mika Brzezinski, a co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” who makes no secret of her affection for Mr. Christie, seemed taken aback by the governor’s harsh critique.

“I was a little surprised when he took a jab at us,” she said in an interview on Sunday.

“I don’t think it’s legitimate to say this is a partisan attack,” she added. “I think this is a very real story, with legs.”

Right.

Just like how Benghazi is a Republican witch hunt, or whatever the f-k it is they're saying over there. I rarely watch the network, it's so bad. As for Christie, he got in bed with them. Screw him. No one told him the MSNBC progs were playing him for the fool? Perhaps they did, but he got so full of himself --- and the national limelight as "the one" to overcome the partisan polarization --- he just couldn't help himself. It's gotta be a harsh wake-up call.

Photos Show Chris Christie With Port Authority's David Wildstein During Bridge-Closure Fiasco

The photos raised questions about Christie's veracity, and could be the other shoe dropping.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Christie, Official Who Arranged Bridge Closures Were Together During Fiasco":

Gov. Chris Christie was with the official who arranged the closure of local lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 11, 2013 — the third day of the closures, and well after they had triggered outrage from local officials beset by heavy traffic.

It isn’t known what, if anything, Mr. Christie discussed with David Wildstein that day, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official was among the delegation of Mr. Christie’s representatives who welcomed him to the site of the World Trade Center for the commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks there....

The photograph of the men together raised new questions about what the Christie administration knew about the lane closures and when, said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the Democratic chair of the transportation committee that issued subpoenas over the lane closures.

“It buttressed the skepticism that many have had about his statement,” said Mr. Wisniewski, about when Mr. Christie learned of his aides’ involvement in the closures. “I can’t help but wonder what conversation took place between them.”

Continue reading.

Public Approval of Chris Christie Unmoved by Bridgegate Scandal

At Politico, "Poll: Chris Christie opinion unscathed."

And following the links takes us to Pew Research, "Christie Story Attracts Little Public Interest: Recent Opinions of New Jersey Governor Are Largely Unchanged."

Records Show Christie Administration Canceled Meetings After Jersey City Mayor Didn't Endorse

I never did blog this story because I was in the middle of lengthy troll rights blogging as it broke. I did watch the Christie press conference, or at least the main part of it. I went back to bed as the darned thing droned on for a couple of hours.

In any case, here's an update at WSJ, "Documents Back Up Jersey City Mayor's Claim that He Was Cut Off":

Documents released Monday indicate that meetings arranged between top commissioners to Gov. Chris Christie and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop were abruptly canceled without reason last year—providing evidence of Mr. Fulop's claim that he was cut off after he decided not to endorse the governor.

The documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal through a public records request showed communications between Mr. Fulop and Christie administration staff members arranging the meetings in June and July, until the commissioners all canceled one meeting after another.

More at that top link (via Memeorandum).

ADDED: From the Other McCain, "The Christie GWB Scandal Bubble."

Wolf Blitzer Interviews Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich

Okay, I promised I'd come back with this clip. It's interesting:



ADDED: The full interview:

Obligatory Entry on Chris Christie Bridge Scandal

Look, I put on CNN around noon, since as previously noted I can't stand Shepard Smith. I normally turn it back over to Fox at 3:00pm, when the awesome Special Report with Bret Baier comes on. So it's been non-stop Chris Christie news for almost 3 hours now, especially on Jake Tapper's and now with Wolf Blitzer. Blitzer just had a pretty compelling interview with Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who was the alleged target of retribution by Christie's office. Ima post that clip when it's uploaded to CNN's YouTube page.

Meanwhile, at the Bergen Record, "Fort Lee mayor: GWB emails reveal the 'venomous side of politics'."

Also, I had the Lonely Con at the sidebar, but it's time to move her over to the front-page, "Emails Show Top Christie Aides Had Bridge Lanes Closed to Punish Ft. Lee Mayor."

And at the New York Times, "Top Christie Staff Sought to Disrupt Traffic as Revenge." (More at Memeorandum.)

Added from Twitter:

True lesson of media feeding frenzy on Christie is #GOP candidates think they can be buddies with press. Nope, press views GOP as dinner.
— Dan Gainor (@dangainor) January 8, 2014

.@MelissaTweets @jimgeraghty Just like his pal Obama, Christie is shocked -- SHOCKED -- to learn something scandalous happened on his watch.
— Josh Painter (I-TX) (@Josh_Painter) January 8, 2014

More for Dan Riehl, "Chris Christie’s In Bigger Trouble Than You May Think."