It's Still Early, But GOP Hopefuls Test The Waters For 2016
During the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that begins Thursday, a slew of men who appear to want to try their hand at leading the GOP back to the White House in 2016 will be speaking, though not every potential presidential candidate was invited.
Yes, it's four years away, but that hasn't stopped Republican hopefuls from testing the waters. There are already polls — for whatever they're worth — of potential GOP candidates.
One name that's usually at the top of the list, says political analyst Stu Rothenberg, is the popular Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie.
"Christie has gotten wonderful general election ink over the last six months," Rothenberg says. "He has carved out a niche for himself as somebody who's a straight-talker, not the photogenic, artificial, phony politician. ... And he's benefited in his overall profile from a positive relationship with the president, and his willingness to take on his own party."
Having said that, Rothenberg adds, those are exactly the attributes that will hurt Christie with Republican primary voters if he seeks the nomination.
Case in point: Christie was explicitly not invited to speak at CPAC.
Christie is asked about running all the time, and he has adopted a "What? Are you nuts?" response.
"I think anybody who tries to plan in politics that far in advance is crazy," he has said.
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