I voted for Chris Christie’s opponent last night. Poor Barbara Buono. She never had a chance. She had a miniscule budget and no name recognition. Christie is way too popular in New Jersey, even among Democrats. Hard-core Newark union leaders tell me (off the record) that they like Christie.

He isn’t terribly ideological. I’ve never heard him talk about social issues. He isn’t a tea partier. He was nice to Obama when he needed to be. He like Bruce Springsteen. He talks like he’s from Jersey. In a state full of extremely dirty politics, he managed to not get caught  up in that garbage. People don’t hate him here.

But everyone is afraid that if he gets into national politics, he will stop being our self-depreciating, canoli-eating, moderate Republican governor. Once he starts making trips to Iowa, he’ll morph into Ted Cruz or Michelle Bachmann. I’m not confident that a Christie-Republican can win outside of New Jersey.