My must read of the day is the "Sunday Show Round Up," in the Washington Free Beacon:
Following a strong reelection victory on Tuesday, Governor Chris Christie (R., N.J.) appeared on four Sunday shows to discuss his win and its significance for the future of the Republican Party.
"What I was saying on Tuesday night and what I’ve been saying all along, is that you can govern with the principles that I have, reforming tenure, cutting budgets … we did all this in a bipartisan way, working across the aisle, getting things done. That’s what people in New Jersey want … and that’s what people across the country, I think, want as well," Christie said on "Fox News Sunday."
Christie won with high percentages amongst women and minorities, groups the national GOP has had difficulty winning over.
If this seems like a narcissistic must read, well, it is! But the Sunday shows this week were important: Chris Christie went on 4 out of 5 shows. That warrants attention, and there's one point in particular worth discussing on its own: New Jersey's voter turnout.
On NBC’s "Meet the Press," Rep. Donna Edwards (D., Md.) said, "First of all I want to throw a little cold water on the Chris Christie thing. He won with 38 percent of the vote, record low turnout in that election, so I’m not really sure how much it says about what needs to happen nationally."
She is correct. Voter turnout was roughly 38 percent. But I looked into it, and I think that's only part of the picture.
I’m not convinced turnout in New Jersey this year was abnormally low. The state seems to be on a declining trajectory when it comes to off-year state elections.
In the other big election that happened last month, vote turnout was abysmal. Now-Sen. Cory Booker beat his Republican challenger 54 percent to 44 percent, but only 24 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls. Would Donna Edwards say that the "Booker thing" somehow means less because of that?
If you look at New Jersey elections over the last 10 years, when it's not a presidential election voter turnout is consistently below 50 percent. In fact, it's been below 50 percent since 2000.
Edwards point is an argument against Christie's win that we'll hear more frequently in the coming weeks. Perhaps GOP challengers in the primaries will point it out, if Christie decides to run.
And while that argument may be factually correct, it's more than a little misleading to say it disproves the magnitude of Christie’s win.