Christie scores High Nationally And In NH

Chris Christie Is “Surging In New Hampshire” And Will Debate Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime

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The New York Times: “Mr. Christie is said to have taken the news in stride, buoyed by a sense that his message is breaking through in New Hampshire, an early primary state where he has focused his efforts, for the first time in the campaign.”

• “Parrying questions from reporters, and ignoring staff members who sought to cut short the repartee, he boasted that he would stand out on any debate stage.”

Breitbart: “After Missing Main Debate Stage, Chris Christie's Team Stays Optimistic”

• “Christie’s team maintained an optimistic tone – strikingly different that other candidates, who blamed media bias or the Republican National Committee for their failure to make the cut.”

NH Republican Party Chair Jennifer Horn: “Nat'l polls are measure of name ID @ChrisChristie polling in top tier in #fitn & working hard - should be on main stage #nhpolitics”

Star-Ledger: “If Gov. Chris Christie's presidential campaign was handed a setback Thursday night, he wasn't showing it Friday morning.”

The Hill’s A.B. Stoddard: “I think that someone like Chris Christie's going to do fine. He took the right attitude. He didn't express any sour grapes. He is surging in New Hampshire where he wants to be surging. He wants to peak later, I think they all do in the early states, not now and I think if he has a memorable performance, it will spoken about.”

The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker: “[T]his natl poll decision comes just as Christie is hitting his stride on the stump and in NH polls.”

Time: “How Christie and Huckabee Will Work Around Debate Diss”

Meghan McCain: “I have not always been the biggest Christie fan - but his attitude towards his campaign and debates is really impressive and mature.”

CNN’s Ben Ferguson: “[C]hris Christie is a pretty smart guy and I think if he plays this well, especially spending a lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina, it may play to his advantage.”

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Christie “Got Robbed” As “65 percent [of Republicans] Wanted To See” Him In Main Debate

Vox Populi Poll: “65 percent [of Republicans] wanted to see New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the prime time debate.”

Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough: “This is pretty shocking that the man who is moving fastest up the approximate polls in New Hampshire right now along with Marco Rubio is Chris Christie. He's got something on Youtube, that incredible moving speech has gotten over 5 million hits this week. This is a guy as we would say in Basketball that's got the ‘hot-hand,’ and you're keeping him off the stage and you’re keeping him off the stage …”

• “I really have no idea what the executives were thinking at Fox Business when putting the criteria together.”

Star-Ledger: “Fox got it wrong in how it set main GOP debate that excludes Christie, pollsters say”

Newsmax: “7 Reasons Christie, Huckabee Belong on Main Debate Stage”

1. They have more experience than many
2. They are leaders of the party
3. They are lifelong conservatives
4. Competition is good for the party
5. They fight back against the liberal mainstream media
6. They are effective at criticizing Hillary Clinton
7. They fight for religious freedom

Commentary’s Noah Rothman: “Really find it hard to understand how Christie is out but Kasich is in. Doesn't compute.”

The New York Times’ Ashley Parker: “Needs to be a way to winnow the debate stage, and polls are an obvious one. BUT worth noting that both Christie and Graham have been strong.”

Larry Sabato: "I'm a broken record about the tyranny of polling, but this false god is being used to trim our POTUS choices before any real votes are cast…”

• “The idea of burdening polls with decisions they're not qualified to make is ridiculous. It makes no sense. Whatever happened to good judgment?  We've just given up the idea that good people can make judgments."

The Washington Post’s Wonkblog: “Chris Christie is out of the main GOP debate. He got robbed.”

• “Fox can't just let anybody on stage, of course, and it's probably impossible to come up with a completely reliable method for identifying the candidates with the best chances of winning. Still, the data from the betting markets suggest that Christie deserves a slot.”

Huffington Post: “Why It Makes No Sense That Christie And Huckabee Got Kicked Out Of Next Week's Main GOP Debate”

National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar: “Christie excelled at the debates and his favorable numbers markedly improving. But demoted. Not meritocratic”

Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski: “I also think unwittingly it’s sort of tampering with the process.”

Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin: “There's a public interest in letting voices be heard. Everybody agrees that Chris Christie … has something to offer.  ... There's a thousand ways to do a format that could get everyone a chance to talk.”

The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin: “Christie’s town hall discussion of drug addiction sparked huge interest, drawing about 6 million views according to the campaign. He has held more town halls than any candidate. … The ones who will be hurt by his exclusion then will be the voters who won’t have the most robust, interesting debate possible.”

• “Consider that Christie is rising fast in New Hampshire and according to the two most recent polls runs ahead of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and even with or ahead of Carly Fiorina, both of whom will be on the main stage. Christie is running hard, as candidates are expected to, in a critical early state and in some polls has quadrupled his support since the last debate. And yet he won’t be on the stage because meaningless, national polls are the sole determination as to who is in or out.”