https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=272467.0The people in this thread think that Christie can pull off quite a victory because 2012 was his prime in terms of popularity, but I'm not too sure.
He'd have to tack to the right in order to win the primary. Even though he would go back to the center, I doubt he'd win New Jersey.
He would do better in the debates compared to Romney, but he wouldn't be up against Rubio, he would be up against someone who knows exactly what he's doing, at least when it comes to debating.
He knows he has to hold the solidly red states in the South and the Mountain West (not hard against Obama) and needs to win back: Indiana, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado. That's basically what Romney was trying to do. I think his platform would be similar to Romney, except that his personality and overall execution would be quite different.
I think this is the worst case scenario for Christie.
I think this is the best case scenario for Christie.
I think the outcome is much closer to the first one than the second. To attain the second outcome, you're going to want to have quite a few things break in favor of Christie when it comes to execution - he has to clearly trounce Obama in the debates, raise money comparable to the amount Romney did in the OTL, avoid any gaffes while ruthlessly exploiting any gaffes Obama makes, and effectively respond to any of the attacks leveled against him. He has to be successful in conveying to the country the overall image of someone who isn't a wingnut like Santorum, someone who isn't out-of-touch like Romney, and someone who has more substance than Obama while still retaining an adequate level of style. You might also want to add a few major mistakes on Obama's part when it comes to gaffes, responsiveness to attacks, messaging, etc.
