No stranger to N.H., Christie picks up the pace

WOLFEBORO, N.H. - Rich Kalich had an impression of Gov. Christie: "Bravado, kind of. Almost like a bully."

But that was before he saw the governor, who spoke for 55 minutes Thursday night while standing on a patio outside a lake house in Spofford, N.H., rattling through his presidential platform, boasting of bipartisanship in New Jersey, and eliciting sighs with the oft-told tale of his mother's dying words that there was nothing left unsaid between them.

"I feel and think much more positively about him, having heard him," Kalich, former CEO of a medical-device company, said of Christie. "His reputation kind of precedes him."

Such conversions - in mind-set, at least, if not to votes - were Christie's mission as he barnstormed New Hampshire last week, hitting up diners, house parties, and American Legion halls during a trip that spanned five days, 13 stops, and more than 561 miles.

It was his first tour through the home of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary since he entered the race Tuesday, but far from his first stop in the state. In the weeks running up to his announcement, Christie had given three policy speeches and held a series of town-hall-style meetings in New Hampshire; he has visited at least 10 times this year.

He also made repeat visits last year on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Walt Havenstein, and in 2012 stumping for GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who hosted Christie as well as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at his summer home in Wolfeboro on Friday night.

On Saturday, Christie and Rubio marched in a Fourth of July parade in Wolfeboro, moving slowly with their respective groups of supporters as they stopped to shake hands with spectators.

"We fell far behind Chris Christie," Rubio quipped. "We can't let that happen again."

Months of lavishing attention on New Hampshire have yet to shift polls here in Christie's favor. A CNN/WMUR poll released June 25 found that 44 percent of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters view him unfavorably, a larger share than any Republican except real estate mogul Donald Trump - though former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee comes close, at 43 percent unfavorable. The same poll placed Christie at 5 percent among New Hampshire Republicans, with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the lead at 16 percent and Trump at 11 percent.

Christie needs "to show people he is different than and more than the image out of the press that follows him, that he's capable of dealing with people," said Tom Rath, a longtime GOP strategist in New Hampshire. "I think he's working on that."

The governor acknowledged that challenge last week, telling reporters after holding his third town-hall meeting in three days Thursday that his goal was to "make sure people get to know who I really am."

"It's kind of ironic for me," Christie said, "because there's almost no one who doesn't know who I am."

While Christie needs voters to give him a second look, that's not the only barrier between the governor and winning the New Hampshire Republican primary, said Dante Scala, a University of New Hampshire political science professor.

Christie's challenges, Scala said, include competition from lesser-known candidates who have yet to make a first impression; the potential for more bad news from New Jersey, where Christie's approval has waned; and wariness from conservatives.

With 14 Republicans in the race - and counting - Christie also isn't alone in training his sights on New Hampshire. "There's only a finite pool of voters, and there are a lot of people vying for them," said Steve Duprey, New Hampshire's Republican national committeeman, who traveled with John McCain during the Arizona senator's 2008 presidential campaign. "There are just so many candidates that could finish so close together."

Given that level of competition, "if you could pick up 10 committed supporters a day to volunteer for your campaign, after doing four town-hall meetings . . . you've got a whole army there," Duprey said.

Christie recently got a longtime Republican Party official in the state to sign on to his campaign. Wayne MacDonald is described by political observers as a hard worker with a hefty Rolodex whose support could boost the New Jersey governor's credibility.

Christie announced two New Hampshire endorsements last week, one from a former mayor of Nashua, the state's second-largest city. At Martha's Exchange, a Nashua restaurant, the former mayor, Bernie Streeter, boasted that "I haven't had a loser yet," dating back to Richard Nixon.

Among those who had been waiting to greet Christie at the restaurant Thursday was Conrad Deschenes, 70, of Litchfield, N.H. A retired sales representative, Deschenes said he'd narrowed the Republican field to two favorites: Christie and Trump.

"I don't like those idiots out there that are so afraid of the press," Deschenes said. "These guys are not afraid."

(Asked later about sharing fans with Trump, Christie said: "I quite frankly don't see any similarities between me and Donald, except that we're both married to really good women.")

Christie's pitch included policy talk, personal stories, and pledges to take voter questions. He told his crowd in Rochester that he had held more town-hall meetings in New Hampshire than any other candidate, and "I assure you, no one will catch up."

He presented his combative side as a means to obtain bipartisan compromise, telling the crowd at the Spofford event, "I hit it harder, and harder, and harder" to bring deals together.

He also sold himself as electable. "You want to put states in play that haven't been in play before for our party? I'll put Pennsylvania in play," he said.

Though he impressed some with his characterization of his New Jersey record, he glossed over context. A favorite figure was $11 billion, the deficit he said he faced when taking office. But that represented a structural deficit, not a hole Christie had to close midyear. The shortfall was in the $2 billion range.

At a GOP breakfast Saturday in Wolfeboro, where Christie later marched in the parade, a woman asked him whether his reputation as a "great compromising person" meant he had sacrificed his convictions.

Saying he couldn't get anything done without working with a Democratic Legislature, Christie cited the 2011 pension reform deal reached with Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester).

"The reason we've stuck together is we've become friends. . . . That doesn't happen in Washington anymore," Christie said. He didn't go on to describe the impasse over his current proposal to make more changes to the pension system, or that Sweeney has accused him of abandoning duties at home in service of his presidential ambitions.

Steve Schmidt, a GOP strategist who advised McCain's campaign in 2008, watched Christie at Saturday's breakfast. Christie "has every possibility to win up here," Schmidt said. "This race hasn't begun yet."

The unsettled nature of the race was underscored by numerous voters, including Pollyann Winslow, 59, of Londonderry. At MaryAnn's Diner in Derry on Friday, she had asked Christie about his foreign-policy credentials. Christie joked that "foreign policy to me is New York" but said he had learned "a tremendous amount," including by consulting former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Winslow, a Republican, approved of his answer. But she wasn't committed to Christie, citing the George Washington Bridge scandal as a concern. In a New Hampshire refrain, she said she would need to meet Christie three times before deciding, noting that Friday was just the first.