Christie is at home in the Hawkeye state

THE GOP heavy machinery is merging onto the road to the White House while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seems to be swerving in and out of controversies.

Christie recently bobbled and backtracked on vaccine comments; there have been numerous reports of his lavish expenses; he roots for a football team in Texas and wouldn't answer questions after watching soccer in London, all while still lugging the "Bridgegate" scandal around.

A columnist for the Newark Star-Ledger called for Christie to give up his presidential dream and head back home to focus on Jersey's problems.

That's not going to happen, but in case anyone's looking for Christie, check Iowa, where observers say he has no traffic problems and plenty of goodwill.

"People are probably aware of all that, but it's not that important here," said Tim Hagle, an associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa. "He comes to Iowa and he's done pretty well. People get to see you in person here, not filtered through the media."

Christie hasn't formally announced a White House run, but he's been to Iowa 13 times, including a visit to the Dallas County Republicans' Spring Speaker Series in West Des Moines last week.

"I've no reluctance about being here. I like Iowa a lot," Christie told reporters there.

Yesterday, Christie was in New Hampshire, another important early primary state in which he's making the rounds.

Some Iowa observers think Christie needs to venture out beyond Des Moines, where people can get fairly ho-hum about candidate visits. It worked for Rick Santorum in 2012. He finished as the runner-up to eventual nominee Mitt Romney in the caucus after crisscrossing the state in a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup.

Christie's "play is Iowa because he's done so much work here. It's easy to come to Des Moines, though," said Craig Robinson, former political director of the Republican Party of Iowa and founder of IowaRepublican.com. "I would want to go Mason City or maybe Dubuque."

When former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced in December that he was exploring a presidential run, political observers immediately asked whether Bush would siphon off Christie's donor money and lure away moderates.

Iowans want to feel wanted, though.

"We haven't seen Jeb Bush. I bet you it's been 20 years since Jeb Bush paid a visit in Iowa," Robinson said.

It's actually been three years.

Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute in New Jersey, said Christie has the highest negative ratings among potential contenders, particularly among the tea-party crowd.

Murray said the Bridgegate scandal, which linked Christie's aides to the deliberate closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge as political retribution, opened up his defenses, and he's been taking hits ever since.

"No traffic problems and Jeb Bush is trailing him for support," Murray said in an email. "No traffic problems and Romney's flirtation with 2016 may not even have happened. No traffic problems and tales of his luxury travel may have had a shorter shelf-life."

Christie has been interviewed by federal investigators on Bridgegate, but no formal findings have been released.

WNYC radio reporter Matt Katz, a former Inquirer reporter who runs the Christie Tracker blog and podcast, has been to Iowa three times with the governor and found that conservatives there simply feel he's not conservative enough.

"The criticisms about him have nothing to do with Bridgegate," Katz said.

Katz said conservatives in Iowa are still angry about Christie's mythical hugging of President Obama after Superstorm Sandy. Although no photographic evidence of a legitimate hug appears to exist, unlike his embrace of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, many felt Christie shouldn't have been so welcoming of Obama when he visited the storm-ravaged Jersey Shore.

One of Christie's advisers in Iowa, Jeff Boeyink, the former chief of staff for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, said he lives and breathes Iowa politics and believes Republicans are simply tired of losing. Iowans, Boeyink said, may just be willing to elect a candidate who's 75 percent on the issues.

Plus, there's a quality to Christie that can't be quantified, he said.

"They realize there's something about Christie. They embrace him," he said. "They want a candidate who can win."