In New Hampshire, if nowhere else, Chris Christie is on a roll
Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has thrown everything at the New Hampshire primary, sacrificing time spent in Iowa and South Carolina to traverse the Granite State. It's a risky strategy, but after 55 days and 40 town halls in New Hampshire, Christie said he feels momentum, reports CBS News correspondent Major Garrett.
Fifty days from now, the people of New Hampshire vote in the first-in-the-nation primary. A CBS News battleground tracker poll in that state finds Christie's support has doubled in the past month, from five percent in November to 11 percent now.
In New Hampshire -- if nowhere else -- Christie is on a roll. Such is Christie's need for votes. He pursues them everywhere.
The first stop Sunday was a meeting with homeless veterans in Manchester. The pitch was intimate and subdued.
Then he went to a sports bar stuffed with football fans. CBS News rode with Christie and his family to Peterborough and asked about terror fears after the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.
"We've lived with the aftermath of 9/11 personally. Kids in our school who lost their parents. Friends that we lost in our parish. So I understand the fear... I really do. And it's real," Christie said.
In a time of anxiety, Christie said a president needs to counsel or guide a country with honesty and strength.
"You have to tell the people what the real nature of the threat is," Christie said. "And it's going to mean there are going to be times where you are fearful."
"You better not offer blanket assurances because you can't give it. ...What you have to say to people is, 'I will take every reasonable step under the Constitution to be able to keep you safe,'" he added.
Garrett also asked what Christie has learned from the resurrection of his campaign.
"I think the biggest challenge to a presidential campaign is patience. Nobody wants to have it, but you have to have it," Christie said.
Christie says his personality -- legendarily combative -- demands action.
"You want it to happen like this," Christie said, snapping his finger. "It doesn't happen that way in a presidential campaign."
Christie has four paid staffers in New Hampshire and four in Iowa, but he's trailing badly in Iowa and has only one staffer in South Carolina. Christie knows this isn't nearly enough, but said he will raise all the money he needs and hire all the staff a national campaign requires if he wins New Hampshire.