Thursday, October 1, 2015

Can the Jersey Boy make his mark in Iowa?

By Rob Janicki

This is an observation commentary and opinion piece and is not meant to imply an endorsement for Chris Christie.

I'm not certain what kind of campaign Chris Christie is running, but, at the very least, it's a stealth campaign at this point in time.  That said, Chris Christie's campaign in Iowa just received some very important support and serious financial funding, or promises of funding, from some of Iowa's most important and influential Republican Party leaders and contributors.

Iowa is unique in that its selection method for a political party's presidential nominee is done by local caucuses in each county.  These caucuses are made up of a very small number of registered party members that show up on the caucus date, rather than a larger number of registered party members in a typical primary election process.

The result of Iowa's nomination process is that each party's candidate is really chosen by old fashion back room political tactics. The candidate that gets the most supporters out to all these county caucuses will win the nomination, or will win the majority of delegates that go to the Iowa state convention.  Needless to say, it's not enough to win in the Iowa polls, as much as it is absolutely necessary to get supporters out to vote in these county caucuses 

There are several keys necessary for Christie to win the Republican nomination in Iowa in this caucus process.  

Christie must have a strong campaign team presence on the ground in each and every county in Iowa with professional political operatives guiding and supporting local volunteers to get their candidate's supporters to those all important county caucuses. Christie has been quietly putting together such a statewide apparatus and seems to be on track and ahead of some others in this endeavor.

Christie must have a strong personal presence in Iowa with face time in each and every county town hall type meeting interspersed with local television and radio ads building on his position on issues that are important to Iowans.  Christie also seems to be on track to increasing his personal presence in Iowa.  It seems that Christie has banked on building his presence in a slow and methodical manner to culminate with the Iowa caucuses held on February 1, 2016.

Christie must have the support of the movers and shakers in the leadership of the Iowa Republican Party.  Such support will bring in the funds necessary to wage a successful campaign.  Six Republican heavyweights in Iowa are in the process of announcing their endorsement and financial support of Christie.  These are six of the seven Iowa Republican leaders that previously sought to support Christie in the last presidential cycle.  These six supporters are the most powerful, influential and wealthy party donors in Iowa.  They are supporting Christie because they believe he is the real deal when it comes to authenticity and having a bold vision and strong leadership skills for America. 

The thing about Christie is he commands a personal presence in town hall type meetings.  Some people talk about Donald Trump's authenticity.  It doesn't compare with Christie's genuine authenticity by any stretch of the imagination.  The problem for Christie is to overcome the perception, real or imagined, that he is a liberal Republican.  Some of his positions would indicate a lean to the liberal side of the Republican Party, which is not a good thing in a time when voters are looking for a no nonsense conservative that will challenge liberal progressives.  The one thing Christie has going for him is that he is not afraid to challenge anyone who disagrees with him.  That's a plus for

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