How I Became a Chris Christie Democrat

The reason is that it's becoming clearer and clearer that the Establishment needs Rubio to win NH-not necessarily outright; Trump may well win the whole thing, but he must place first among the Establishment candidates. If he doesn't this could hobble his entire campaign early.

Chris Christie has surged into contention in NH. However, if he places first among the Establishment it's doubtful that he'd have the legs to carry the Establishment's flag all the way to the nomination with all his baggage both ideological-too moderate-and personal-Bridgegate.

Christie has been hitting Rubio very hard lately.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/chris-christie-marco-rubio-attack-217057

He's been quite rightly arguing that Rubio ought to resign his Senate job as he is not doing it. The puzzle for me last week was why wasn't Rubio hitting back. The answer is that Rubio isn't good at such confrontation-he likes prepared lines. 

What we have seen over the weekend is that his surrogates have started to hit Christie-on his exaggerations on his national security experience, his accepting Obamacare's Medicare expansion, and also his prolife conversion story. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2015/12/27/why-did-chris-christie-embrace-obamacares-expansion-of-medicaid/

http://theweek.com/speedreads/596233/chris-christie-reportedly-exaggerating-national-security-experience

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/new-jersey/2015/12/8585823/public-document-complicates-christies-pro-life-conversion-story

"All of these attacks are coming from Rubio surrogates-the Forbes piece is by a Rubio adviser. So hopefully Christie is on his game here. The obvious place to hit Rubio is on amnesty. If there is a single issue for the base, it's clearly immigration. Ann Coulter said Trump can preform abortions in the White House if he cracks down on immigrants."

"As far as the NH primary, the more Establishment GOPers, the better."

"The GOP's New Hampshire nightmare."

"Forget Iowa. This is where an anti-Trump contest becomes a four-way fight that could doom them all."

"Chris Christie is mocking Marco Rubio for not showing up. An hour’s drive up the road, Jeb Bush is hammering away at Donald Trump — oh, and there he goes attacking Christie, too. Just a few blocks up the road, Rubio is quietly lashing Ted Cruz, reminding the people at his town hall that “some Republicans” voted to cut defense spending."

"Welcome to New Hampshire, where the fight for the establishment lane of the GOP presidential primary is turning into a circular firing squad."

"As the year winds down, four Republicans have crisscrossed the state, pointing their attacks in all directions. And with less than 50 days until the first-in-the-nation primary, it’s only going to get worse."

"Forget Iowa, which Cruz appears to be locking up. It's New Hampshire that will cull this field. And with Christie, Bush and John Kasich making the Granite State the singular focus of their campaigns, and Rubio, should he lose Iowa, needing a top-tier finish, the fight to be the mainstream alternative to Cruz or Trump could end here."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/new-hampshire-2016-primary-217145#ixzz3vdFIzfTC

A beautiful logjam.