Politics roundup: Christie rumors and primary nonsense

Gov. Chris Christie rumors on the rise

Generic Script

As the candidates for the GOP’s presidential nomination continue to look more and more lackluster, rumors for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s entrance into the race have grown louder. Ever since the media started following potential candidates a few months ago, Chris Christie has said again and again that he would not run for president. The media, however, has continued to hound him, and this week, rumors of his entrance into the race have peaked. An article in New Jersey’s Star-Ledger newspaper reported late last week that Christie was strongly reconsidering a possible presidential run. The publication cited Christie’s wife, Mary Pat, as a major reason Christie was not considering running, but they also reported that conversations with past first ladies Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan may have changed her mind. The main reason Christie has stayed in the news despite his numerous claims that he is not running is that many wealthy campaign contributors and big name Republicans have tried to recruit him. Perhaps most notably of all these people is FOX News CEO Roger Ailes, who reportedly begged Christie to run before campaigning even began. Everyone will know Christie’s final decision in only a couple weeks as filing dates for some of the early primaries are in late October.

Florida moves up primary date

Florida officially announced last week that it will hold its GOP primary on Jan. 31, breaking the official rules of the Republican Party. Under the GOP’s rules, only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina can hold primaries in January. Florida did the same thing in 2008 and it led to them losing half of their delegates in the GOP primary process and all of their delegates in the Democratic one. Despite the consequences, Florida officials still see an early primary as more beneficial to the state (a Florida primary victory in 2008 was key to John McCain’s victory). By choosing this date, Florida moves the whole GOP primary process up a month. The GOP chair in Iowa has promised that Iowa will be the first primary held, there are laws in New Hampshire that require it to be the first state to hold a primary, the Nevada GOP has rules that it must hold its primary the first Saturday after New Hampshire and the South Carolina GOP chair has pledged to hold its primary before any other Southern state. This means that these four states will all move their primaries from February to January in order to one-up Florida and that GOP candidates will have to start campaigning in these states sooner than expected.