# Christie gets endorsement from crucial NH Union Leader Paper **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 29, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932 "2015-11-29T14:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GloryDays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GloryDays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GloryDays)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/1 "2015-11-29T14:59:37Z")
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), the struggling presidential candidate, got a late boost from the New Hampshire Union Leader Saturday night. Can this boost Christie’s numbers in New Hampshire and nationally? I live in New Jersey, and I think Christie is a disappointment. The New Jersey economy is very weak, and the jobs numbers are very uninspiring. He is not one of New Jersey’s great governors unless the economy drastically improves. [http://www.unionleader.com/For-our-safety,-our-future:-Chris-Christie-for-President](http://www.unionleader.com/For-our-safety,-our-future:-Chris-Christie-for-President) > **[New Hampshire Union Leader endorses Chris Christie](https://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/new-hampshire-union-leader-endorses-chris-christie-216232)** > > It's traditionally the most respected newspaper voice in the first-in-the-nation primary state. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/2 "2015-11-29T16:24:15Z")
He’s really fat, and I don’t think fat people should be presidents. You need someone with character and integrity. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/3 "2015-11-29T16:33:15Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > He’s really fat, and I don’t think fat people should be presidents. You need someone with character and integrity. I hear he was so fat he blocked a bridge. And he doesn’t absolutely hate Communist Nazi Muslim Atheistic Socialist Kenyans. He must not know that certain groups of people must never mix with certain other groups. Good Presidents must know their place. He’s also neither insane nor favored by the party, so he’s got no chance anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/4 "2015-11-29T17:13:21Z")
In the 10 contested Republican primary races since (and including) 1968, the Union Leader has endorsed the N.H. primary winner only four times, and the eventual Republican nominee three times. Astonishingly, it endorsed John Ashbrook in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/5 "2015-11-29T17:14:17Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I hear he was so fat he blocked a bridge. > > And he doesn’t absolutely hate Communist Nazi Muslim Atheistic Socialist Kenyans. He must not know that certain groups of people must never mix with certain other groups. Good Presidents must know their place. > > He’s also neither insane nor favored by the party, so he’s got no chance anyway. I bet he does hate the CNMASK’s. Most people actually do. It’s just that we can’t always agree on who is a CNMASK, and to be honest we’re not actually sure they exist. But if they do, we hate them. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/6 "2015-11-29T17:25:24Z")
I’m no fan or Christie, but if you put a gun to my head and made npme vote for one of the current candidates, it would probably be him. Or, maybe just shoot me. But it’s close. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/7 "2015-11-29T17:37:05Z")
Well let’s see … Christie is currently polling a distant fourth [in his home state](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/10/politics/chris-christie-new-jersey-quinnipiac-poll/). November 2011 the NH Union Leader endorsed Newt Gingrich … he ended up 4th in the NH GOP primary sweepstakes with 9% well behind Huntsman’s 3rd place 17% finish with Romney taking first by a very solid lead with 39%. Previously they’ve gone with Forbes, Buchanan twice, and DuPont. He had just polled at 14% before the endorsement was made. [Silver’s analysis](http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/newspapers-endorsement-has-been-leading-indicator-in-new-hampshire/?_r=0) of the significance of the NH Union Leader endorsement for Gingrich was one of the times he was pretty dang completely wrong. He concluded that the endorsement implied “that New Hampshire could be quite close, with Mr. Romney finishing with 36 percent of the vote and Mr. Gingrich at 30 percent.” Oops. So no, the paper’s endorsement is not so crucial and will not result in a boost anywhere, not nationally and not in New Hampshire. He’s running in the single digits there now and he will likely end in the single digits there on primary day; he will not be a top three finisher, maybe not a top five finisher, and he will earn no delegates. He will quit the race soon after the results are counted, within two days. (If he is still in it by then.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/8 "2015-11-30T14:37:04Z")
This endorsement won’t help Christie, but it also won’t help anyone else, so it’s all good. Would be amusing if Christie got indicted while he was still campaigning. At this point, I have to figure that all of the minor candidates (everyone except Trump, Carson, Cruz, Rubio, and Bush\*) are just hanging in there until Iowa or NH, whichever they think they’ve got the better shot at. After you’ve already been campaigning for a year, you don’t throw in the towel with two months to go just because your polls are flatlining. Now if your campaign’s _bank balance_ is flatlining, that’s a different matter. 🙂 \*I figure Jebbie will at least stay in through Florida, no matter how badly he does up until then. But once the Republicans of Florida tell him to get lost, he’ll finally take the hint. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/9 "2015-11-30T14:49:28Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > This endorsement won’t help Christie, but it also won’t help anyone else, so it’s all good. > > Would be amusing if Christie got indicted while he was still campaigning. Well, there’s precedent for [running for President from prison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs)… ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/10 "2015-11-30T14:59:12Z")
Newspaper endorsements ain’t worth what they used to be. Won’t help Christie, his campaign has entered hospice. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/11 "2015-11-30T15:02:56Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Won’t help Christie, his campaign has entered hospice. Of course, that’s just as true for Huckabee, Santorum, Paul, Graham, etc. ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/12 "2015-11-30T15:17:29Z")
when Christie gets out of the undercard debates, lemme know. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/13 "2016-03-02T04:26:57Z")
Bumped. The paper now says it goofed in endorsing Christie - and that he told them he would never endorse Trump! As if: [http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/01/politics/new-hampshire-union-leader-chris-christie/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/01/politics/new-hampshire-union-leader-chris-christie/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/14 "2016-03-02T05:01:13Z")
Hey, not bad! > [@DSeid](#): > > … he will likely end in the single digits there on primary day; he will not be a top three finisher, maybe not a top five finisher, and he will earn no delegates. He will quit the race soon after the results are counted, within two days. (If he is still in it by then.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/15 "2016-03-02T05:07:31Z")
It would be a shame if the choice of Chris Christie resulted in the Union Leader losing its reputation for picking winners like Newt Gingrich, Steve Forbes, Pat Buchanan (twice), and Pete du Pont. ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-gets-endorsement-from-crucial-nh-union-leader-paper/738932/16 "2016-03-02T05:08:54Z")
Well, Christie is getting some more [attention on the editorial page](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/newspapers-demand-christie-resign-lament-endorsement-supporting-trump-n529641)…