Chris Christie Circling the Wagons

But first of all, let me share the 2 slightly different headlines for this New York Times report.

In print:

Hiring by Christie Suggests

He May Be on the Defensive

Online:

A Hiring by Christie Raises

Questions Over Cooperation

So anyway, here's my favorite part, describing Christie's hiring of Randy M. Mastro.

OK, let's take a closer look at this "third-party perspective".

In the previous paragraph, Kate Zernkie reports that Christie and Guiliani are "longtime friends", who "have shared staff members and advisers.:"

Mr. [Randy M.] Mastro, introduced in paragraph 2 as "a longtime associate of Rudolph W. Guiliiani", is no outsider.  (After reading the Bloomberg article I linked here, you'll probably agree that both headlines apply.)

So whaddya think?  Has Christie inexorably damaged his chances to be the 2016 Republican Presidential candidate?

Don't let this column graph influencing your answer,.

Source:
Poll:  Hillary Clinton widens lead on Chris Christie,  (Politico, 1/15/2014)  The poll was conducted Jan. 12-14, 2014.

Related posts:
Meet Some Jersey Democrats Who Enjoy the Slop from Christie's Trough.  (1/14/2014)
Another storm hits Chris Christie's world.  (1/14/2014)
Pew Research emphasizes wrong element of poll.  (1/14/2014)
Bill Baroni, a regular Fred Astaire.  (1/11/2014)
Let's look back to September 2013.  (1/11/2014)
Chris Christie & the I/Me/My's (Appearing with Word of the Day).  (1/11/2014)
"Refreshing Forcefulness": A Euphemism for "Misguided Bullying".  (1/9/2014)
The Chris Christie option:  No October surprise here.  (6/5/2013)
New Jersey's Gov. Christie does not love and value libraries. (5/20/2010)