Christie's a 'bully'? No way, says New Jersey
Who you calling a bully? Despite nearly four years of being labeled a "bully" by his opponents, voters simply don't agree. A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll out today says 72 percent of respondents agree with Christie that the description of him as a "fighter" is more apt than "bully."
Barbara Buono thinks Chris Christie is a bully, but New Jersey doesn't believe her.
"Gov. Christie represents the worst combination of bully and bossism," charged Buono, Christie's opponent, in the last gubernatorial debate.
Christie is a "classic school-yard bully," slammed Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, a top Buono backer, early in Christie's term.
But it turns out, despite nearly four years of being labeled a "bully" by his opponents, voters simply don't agree. A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll out today says 72 percent of respondents agree with Christie -- that the description of him as a "fighter" is more apt than "bully."
"Fighter," in fact, is the "single word most applied to Christie by voters," said David Redlawsk, director of the poll and professor of political science at Rutgers.
This is tremendously positive for Christie. What politician 11 days away from Election Day wouldn't want to hear that the vast majority of voters think he's fighting, presumably on their behalf?
Negative words were also tested: 54 percent say "stubborn" applies to Christie, while 46 percent say "arrogant" fits.
For Christie, though, this is the most important number: An average of polls computed by Real Clear Politics shows Christie is trouncing Buono by 26.4 points.