Chris Christie Close to Being Sent to JV GOP Debate This Month

Republican presidential candidates take the stage during the CNBC Republican presidential debate at the University of Colorado, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Boulder, Colo.

Chris Christie is in danger of being demoted to the JV team.

Christie has actually performed pretty well at the three-ring circus that has been the first three GOP debates. And he’s looking for a comeback in the polls, especially with Jeb Bush faltering. He’s gaining in New Hampshire.

There’s just one problem: Christie needs to poll at an average of 2.5 percent or higher to make the next GOP debate, to be held later this month on Fox Business Channel. And he’s not quite hitting it. One look at polling averages on the RealClearPolitics site shows Christie right at 2 percent in the last few polls.

It would not look good to be left out of this debate (just like if a varsity athlete in high school were to be demoted to JV!). In a recent poll he’s up to 3 percent, which would put him in the debate. But, as Paul Mulshine of The Star Ledger writes in a column about Christie’s poll numbers, “even though he seems to do great in public appearances … that doesn’t translate into support in the polls.”

A poll released earlier this week should give Christie some hope: He comes in at a whopping 3 percent, tied for sixth place. That should get him to the 2.5 percent mark. But (as Mulshine also points out) if another poll comes out before next Wednesday that has him at 1 percent, he could be debating in the afternoon.

Christie has to be hoping that his remarks about drug addiction that went viral boost him. We, the viewers, ought to be rooting for him a bit, too: He’s always good entertainment when on stage with the rest of the GOP herd.