Marco Rubio's super PAC targets Chris Christie in New Hampshire
The super PAC supporting Marco Rubio, Conservative Solutions, is airing two ads in New Hampshire aimed at softening support for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is directing most of his efforts toward the first-in-the-nation primary.
The first spot, called "Favorite," highlights the times Christie has strayed from conservative orthodoxy.
"Chris Christie could well be Obama's favorite Republican governor. Why? Christie's record. He instituted an Internet sales tax, supported Common Core and liberal energy policies. Incredibly, Christie even backed Obamacare's Medicaid expansion," a narrator says against a backdrop of photos of Christie and President Obama. Watch the ad here:
The other spot, "Look at Me," highlights some of Christie's problems in his home state of New Jersey.
"When New Jerseyans look at Chris Christie, why do so many want to leave?" the narrator asks. He then lists the reasons: a high tax burden, slow job growth, and the indictment of two of Christie's aides for their involvement in "Bridgegate," the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. Watch the ad here:
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, Rubio said that he had watched the ads though had nothing to do with producing them.
"These are serious policy disputes and there's nothing in those ads that is inaccurate, it's the truth," Rubio said.
Although Christie has not broken through in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest of the 2016 election cycle, he has had more success in New Hampshire, which will hold its primary election in the second week of February. While Trump holds a sizable lead, one from CBS News, shows him in fourth, while Rubio is in third, and a RealClear Politics average of polls shows Rubio, Cruz and Christie clumped together.
While Conservative Solutions doesn't necessarily believe Christie can win the nomination, a spokesman for the super PAC told the National Review that Christie "has the ability to alter or to affect" who becomes the nominee.
Christie commented on the ad in an interview on Bloomberg Politics' "With All Due Respect" Monday.
"I guess I just wonder what happened to the Marco who so indignantly looked at Jeb Bush and said, 'I guess someone must have convinced you that going negative against me helps you,'" Christie said. "I guess that same person now must have convinced Marco that going negative against Chris Christie is what he needs to do."
On Tuesday, Rubio also commented on Sen. Ted Cruz's, R-Texas, super PAC's attack ads against Rubio.
"When someone views you as a threat, they¹re going to attack you, that¹s what people do in this campaign sometimes. You¹ll have to ask them why they¹re doing what they¹re doing," he said. "I have a very different view on national security than Ted Cruz."