Just four days before Wednesday night’s debate, Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made the rounds on the Sunday morning news shows and, on at least one occasion, said that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s debate performance would have a positive impact on his efforts to become president.
During ABC News coverage immediately following the debate, Washington Post columnist George Will reminded viewers of Christie’s remarks.
“Just four days ago, on a Sunday morning, Gov. Christie of New Jersey, a partisan Republican, said that this debate would change dramatically the narrative about the election,” Will said. “It may have done that. Mr. Romney came in, I think, with three things to accomplish.”
“First, the polls showing him behind were in danger of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies by demoralizing Republicans,” Will continued. “I think he probably stopped that in its tracks tonight. Second, he wanted to use this forum to correct what he thinks are serious misrepresentations of his program, particularly regarding Medicare and regarding taxes and the scope of the tax cuts and the revenue neutrality and all of that. Third, he want to make the philosophical statement — he knows this is a country where self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals two-to-one. So, he used several times, particularly in his closing statement his opportunity to say, ‘Do you believe in the government is the allocator of resources as an opportunity, or do you believe in the market? And I think most Republicans are content to go to the country and say, ‘Let’s vote on that.’”
(h/t RCP Video)