Tale Of Two Christies: Alabama State Attorney General Candidate Chris Christie Tries To Make A Name For Himself
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- It's the tale of two Chris Christies.
One is the former New Jersey governor and Republican presidential candidate familiar to many in the Tri-State area.
"When you hear the name Chris Christie, what comes to mind?" CBS2's Magdalena Doris asked residents in Jersey City.
"Chris Christie has got like a bad rap," one man said.
"The only thing he did pretty well was his handling of Sandy," another said.
But there's another Chris Christie, a Democrat, who wants to make a name for himself as Alabama's next attorney general.
The Southern politician says he's been dealing with the confusion for quite a while.
"I actually would get a couple of phone calls a month for the other Chris Christie," he told CBS2. "I had his direct line written on a Post-It next to my phone so I would give people the new numbers."
But he said he's less focused on the moniker and more focused on policy.
"My namesake hasn't ruined the name and I'll fix what problems there are," he said.
Although New Jerseyans agree there is something to be said for name recognition.
"If he has a smart PR team he can probably say things like, 'I'm the right Chris Christie' or 'I'm the other Chris Christie,'" said Alexander of Jersey City.
Chris Christie, the Democrat, says he's not changing his name in fact, he had it first -- he's older.
The election is Nov. 6th.
CBS2 reached out to the former governor for his take on candidate Christie and received a terse respond from his spokeswoman who refused to comment because they are still very angry with CBS2 for reporting how Christie tried to avoid security lines at Newark Airport a few weeks ago.
