like chris christie. chris christie telling our jake tapper today he is a good conservative. to you what is he? >> i think he's a reformer who broadly represents conservative values. he's pro-life. he took on the teachers union. he's done a very good job of working to change trenton, the state capital. in many ways he's a lot like scott walker of wisconsin. i look to that one poll that andrew raised about how many people think he's really presidential material. i tried to imagine in 1992 if you had run that poll in arkansas, two years before the presidential election, what percent would have said bill clinton was presidential. or if you'd gone to georgia in 1975 and said what percent think jim any carter is presidential, i think that's a very hard poll for local folks. because they can't quite imagine the majesty of the white house with their particular guy. >> there's chris christie obviously and his family very happy acknowledging the crowd. as soon as he begins to talk -- >> it was not that he would be

so the point where you talked extensively to chris christie. just for example we tried very hard to get an interview with terry mcauliffe. he was not giving any interviews to any national media. actually very few to local virginia media for awhile because they wanted to very much keep him on message. and this message has been, as gloria was just talking about you were talking about his republican opponent ken cucinnelli was simply too extreme. and other way he did it, frankly he got lucky with the republican strategy that ultimately led to a government shutdown. where we are right now is knee deep in federal workers, people who were personally affected by the shutdown. and they, even some probably more registered republicans, traditional republican voters said that they're just sort of done with that wing of the republican party and swung over to terry mcauliffe. that probably at the end of the day helped mcauliffe and the millions and millions of dollars that he was able to raise personally that the clip tons, his very very good friends, were

tonight chris christie's re-election has everything to do with chris christie, and nothing to do with his democratic opponent. it has a little bit of the -- but chris christie, think about this, in winning tonight, and i'm guessing, we'll see what the final margin is, it's probably going to be in the range of 20 points, maybe a little bit bigger. not since 1985, before tonight had a republican won a state wide election in new jersey and got more than 30% of the vote. that's the territory he's in right now. >> you took the words right out of my mouth. it hasn't been since 1985 that republicans -- chris christie, there was a quote from the former adviser to the president who said, democrats are going to live to regret not going harder after chris christie in this election. do you think that's true? >> there's always a republican party that will go hard against chris christie if he goes to higher office. christi didn't have any kind of a challenger. christy's numbers were so good that democrats didn't think -- they weren't going to put any muscle into that race. i think, i mean i remain

a landslide for chris christie. he wins re-election as new jersey's governor already thinking about running for president from 2016. a very different story in the gubernatorial election in virginia. a lot of red for ken cucinnelli. but because of the blue in the washington, d.c. suburbs in northern virginia terry mcauliffe eeking out a narrow victory thanks to his is up sport in the suburbs. exit polls, again a gender gap in presidential politics. favored president obama last time. christie will make the case even against a woman democratic opponent he won the women's vote a majority of the electorate, handily carried the men's vote. chris christie will make that his calling card as he looks to 2016. among african-americans, yes, his democratic opponent won. but look at this. remember barack obama won more than 9 in 10 african-american votes. chris christie getting 21% of that voerkts dramatically up doubling that vote for four years ago. he'll make the case that's much better than john mccain and mitt romney. in la

i think what chris christie can do, he broke the teachers union. he's improved the quality of governance in new jersey. he's someone who actually ace real leader which this country needs. takes on corruption. >> haven't we seen this before with rudy giuliani? >> no. he was pro-choice and had a family life that was spectacular to watch. but chris christie has a good family life, he's pro-life and very conservative on most issues. i think that's the kind of guy who can win the nomination. >> i'm so surprised to hear. you say he's a great leader. where is he leading new jersey to? new jersey has one of the worst credit ratings in the country, the bottom has fallen out. he got downgraded on his own watch. property taxes up. jobs down. poverty up. where is he leading people to? >> if you look at the poll numbers from the exit polls and how he led during hurricane sandy, he was spectacular. people saw him. he's the kind of guy, he worked with president obama, your friend president obama in a way, in a bipartisan way to say we're going to fix this and he

and chris christie has problems besides not being a tea partier. mean, when you really dig into chris christie's record, he's not the perfect presidential candidate. all of the divisions within the party aside. my guess is going to get a challenge from the center also. but yeah, you're right. the rest of the party's going to be divided between five people on the tea party wing. but they're going to give him a lot of room to see reasonable. >> michael, to ron's point, i've written on this subject noting that which makes him immensely popular in new jersey, those every man characteristics and qualities and outbursts, if you string them together in a two-minute reel, people might start to question his temperance to be commander in chief. >> they absolutely will. and not just string them in a two-minute reel, but put it out on the campaign trail surrounded by packs of reporters, hecklers. when you're out in iowa, new hampshire, those early states you don't have a huge bubble around you. people can shout in your face stand up and try to provoke you, and

but first, chris christie's landslide win in the new jersey governor's race, is seen by many as a warm-up to the 2016 presidential race. in his victory speech, christie pointed to new jersey as a model for the way washington should work. >> i know if we can do this in trend trenton, new jersey, maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune in their tvs right now. >> in purple state, virginia, the democrat, terry mcauliffe, defeated the republican, ken cuccinelli. during the campaign, mcauliffe tied cuccinelli to the tea party activists behind the government shutdown and last night he spoke about washington gridlock and appealed for bipartisanship. >> it was a choice about whether virginia would continue the main stream bipartisan tradition that has served us so well over the last decade. and a time when washington was often broken, just think about what virginia has been able to accomplish when we work together. >> by all accounts, obama care did play a role in the election results, what that role was depends on whom you speak to in our cnn exit poll. 47% of virginia voters said they fa

i don't take any of it very seriously. >> have you spoken to chris christie? t to make nice with him? does he want to make nice with you? >> look, i'm here in my role at "crossfire." i'm going to tell the truth, whether i like christie or dislike christie, i want to talk about what i think realistically the size of his win means and what he can do. i don't worry about stuff like this. >> the authors of this new book will be here in "the situation room" on thursday. you've got a new book out, too called "breakout." we'll talk about that. van, the president keeps changing the line if you like your health policy, you can keep it. if you like your doctor, you can keep it. now there's a nuance, a significant one. a big "if" in there. listen to what he said. >> if you have or had one of these plans before the affordable care act came into law and you really like that plan, what we said was you could keep it if it hasn't changed since the law's passed. >> that was a new clause that was added. we didn't hear that in 2009, 2010 when he was winning support for the legisl

if you drill down into chris christie's victory. it was a victory for chris christie.hat's pretty much it. he has an outside personality. no question about that. people are grateful to him the i am from a state where i jubdz stand, gratefulness after a governor has, you know come in and, helped, their people after a natural disaster look hurricane sandy was. look at the results, the rest of the state. the state senate, despite millions of dollars being poured in. didn't lose a single seat in the state senate. the voters passed it in new jersey last night. you have a regard he can't brag about. the highest foreclosure rate in the country. in terms of issues important to women. and middle-class, working families. chris christie is wrong on every single one of the issues. >> the mayor of herschellville, endorsed terry mcauliffe. he said, "our party in many respects in virginia has been taken over by a side show, the party of the reagans big tent, has been reduced by some to a dunce cap." we can do better than that. >> interesting how, sure i will get hate tweets saying th

long as i'm governor, that job will always, always be finished. >> that was new jersey governor chris christie speaking about one hour ago after his re-election victory earlier todd. joining me now, steve carnaky, and john nichols. and karen finney and former communications director for the dnc. that part of the christie speech embodied the whole speech, which is it true you're all looking at me? am i right, all of america? i can feel your eyes on me and if you think it's true, it is true. i am all that and more. that was basically the chris christie speech. >> except i think you're being a little modest. this is chris christie. it's who he is. he didn't change his style. i think the interesting thing is, he gave one of the longer victory speeches i've ever heard. and the problem with it is, while it's an okay introduction, i still don't see how that plays in iowa. i don't see the -- coming from the midwest, rather self-deprecating part of the country, don't overly blow your horn. here is this guy saying i'm it, i'm the only thing that ever happened. >> i think the case christie is trying to m

. 60% chris christie. chris christie won a majority of almost every group. 63%. 35% women. a sharp turn around with female voters, probably how he handled hurricane sandy that ravaged the coast one year ago. one month before sandy hit his approval with women was lower. 47%. but after the hurricane the approval rose into the 60s with women. another factor get this, chris christie's loss of weight. some analysts think women empathize with him after he talked about undergoing lap band surgery to lose weight. which by the way is working. the governor also made head way with luteenose. chris christie 51%. 61% of self described moderates voted for christie. and even one third of liberal voters voted for christie. with appeal like this chris christie took aim at washington grid lock. >> i know that if we could do this in trenton, new jersey, maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune in right now and see how it is done. >> assuming he runs in the 2016 presidential primaries will the republican establishment

clinton and chris christie. by a narrow margin they said we'd take hillary clinton. >> we'll wait to hear from chris christie. christie headquarters in asbury park you're looking there. the governor expected at the microphone any minute now. we'll bring you his comments. first let's check in with dana bash and hillary clinton call live headquarters in virginia. a lot of excitement there. >> that is an understate. people here really thought they were going to be feeling and seeing and they were going to be able to bask in a couple hours ago. it was closer than even mcauliffe's closest supporters and campaign workers thought it will be. but a victory is a victory. and the reality of this race is that people here in virginia didn't love either of the candidates. i mean, if you look at sort of the general anecdotes from all the reporting that went on here, it's not like a new jersey where there was -- it was and is a big political figure. this was a situation where people here seemed to be decided between two people

hillary clinton or chris christie? looking at that angle, the question people put out there, if they could win new jersey in 2016 in the general election, that's gravy. the state they're telling republicans and they want the political world to think is pence. they think chris christie could beat hillary clinton or another republican and pick off oh pennsylvania. >> even though the clintons have that history in pennsylvania. >> but pennsylvania on paper is the one that -- romney got down to 3.5, 4% last time. pence is the one that's a lot more of those sort of -- white working class voters that -- can be peeled off from the -- i do wants to say something quickly in barbara buono's defense. she got served up by her own party. i don't think this is a problem of barbara buono of being a deficient candidate. i think she did the best she could. she was working really hard on this campaign and her own party sold her out. that's part of the success of christie. the democratic party -- where was chris christie last night? with

are you going to join the cult of chris christi? >> chris christie's going to win unanimously. but there's a couple other things too. what a lot of people are going to try to write tomorrow was that it was a moderate one. and the republicans are going to move to the center. i don't think that's what happened. a reformer won in new jersey. someone who was going to bring fiscal sanity back. the ultimate paradox, though, as people start talking about 2016 is what sometimes makes you a national candidate doesn't necessarily make you somebody who can win in places like south carolina or iowa or -- >> we'll get to that. i want to press you on this stuff. i think there's a big myth about chris christi. this guy has the worst bond rating of almost any state. jobs are down. probably taxes are up. he's got this big personality. there's not much behind it. he's never really been in a heavyweight fight. do you think he's going to be able to trick republicans into supporting him and collapse in the general? >> i think it's premature to talk about anybody. we went through this. anybody who t

chris christie was not a victim of this. i just wrote a piece where i think he needs to be very careful. he gets in the face of teachers and says to do your job. imagine him doing that in davenport, iowa to a teacher and imagine that teacher big coming and that could be the start of a war on women. if chris christie has -- uses his confrontational style which is fun now, you can see very easily how they could take some teacher and make them into a cause celebre and chris christie could be a bully and not in a good way. host: these are the exit polls out of virginia. look at the female vote -- terry mcauliffe got 51% of the female vote. ken cucinelli got 42% from the exit polls in the virginia governor's race. guest: married women were a little bit for terry mcauliffe. unmarried women, dramatically on the democratic side. host: here is the headline -- tampa, florida, independent caller. caller: good morning. would you hand the loaded gun to somebody who said they wanted to shoot you? i think that's a perfect analogy for the a

chris christie got a second term. in new york, an overwhelmingly democratic city collects its first democratic mayor in more than 20 years. bill is the winner in that race. joining me now is chris matthews, the host of hardball here on en masse and bc. can we talk about that chris christy speech? if your have not seen it, i will play a little bit of chris christy's acceptance speech. i have never seen a more explicit launching of a presidential campaign. >> no, it is. >> it was unbelievable. take a look at chris christy's acceptance speech. >> we will show you that when we have that in. what was your reaction? >> i thought it was about unity, and i thought it was about the fact that it's implicit. it will have divided government for as long as the eye can see. we will have divided government with one party controlling the white house and the other at least one house and congress. to make a dynamic government, it will have to be a deal making government. not just here, extreme combat over and over again. i think he was

chris christie looking for real action in a blue state. i think there are a lot of issues that you will see with christie vs buono. chris christie has an interesting coalition. what is your take as he starts to gallop to a large win? >> i voted for chris christie this morning. i think my vote will take him over the top. i can't tell you how different it is to live in a state without a -- as governor. i think he has done a great job and i think what will be the deciding issue is, will he get a third of the hispanic vote? he is only invited to major surrogates to campaign with him. he will be also looking to clear about one third of union households and democrats. i think what is key about that victory is who didn't win. let me read you this. i think these two quotes encapsulate what will happen in 2013. and yes, i am a blackberry customer. you can make fun of me if you would like. only ken cucinnelli has said this. my opponent has vetoed abortion laws and gun control act. that is actually the opening line of buono against christie. her openi

i love chris christie. that's where the republican party needs to find itself as we move forward. >> isn't the problem, though, between a republican party that wants to stand on principles versus a republican party that wants to govern? $30 billion in damages to new jersey after hurricane sandy, something like $65 billion in damages to the country. rick, isn't this the dynamic in the republican party right now? one side wants to govern, the other side wants to stand on issues? >> i think it's a bit of both. one of the problemsivity with chris christie is his recent speech with the rnc where he says all i care about is winning. we've seen that before. okay, if we win, we get what? i would say, he did what he had to do with the storm. i do think, though, there was a bit of december probably a little too cozy with the president, knowing it was the final daze of mitt romney, with what mark halperin wrote in his book. that might have been a thumb in the eye. i'm not sure. that might have been a style he needs to

>> so chris christie is running on the theme "i can do it". >> chris christie emerged from last night's election as a frontrunner for the 2016 republican election. and he got there in no small part, thanks to hurricane sandy. but don't take our word for it. >> my pledge to you tonight is i will govern with the spirit of sandy. >> the spirit of sandy that christie evoked so many times last night is one thing. but the facts of the recovery are something else entirely. new jersey received billions of dollars in federal aid to rebuild, and 1.8 billion of that came from the u.s. department of housing and urban development to get people back in their homes. to get that money, christie promised that 60% of the funds would be reserved for low to moderate income households. right now, it appears that chris christie is breaking that promise. of course, we don't know for sure. >> fair share housing center, an advocate group says they're frustrated, and talks of the failure to provide the most basic documents, on why thousands of families have been denied the most basic necessaries since sandy. >>

i think the whole idea of chris christie -- this idea of chris christie the moderate republican who isbsolute nonstarter with the tea party right and republican party, i think that might be overstated a little bit. i think christie's moderation to the extent he's seen and perceived as a moderate, a lot is stylistic. a lot has to do -- a lot has to do with the fact he embraced president obama at the heart of superstorm sandy in new jersey. i think when you get down to it and look at christie's positions on the issues, think back a few years when rudy giuliani was running on the republican side trying to pass off with the republican base. ruddy giuliani, pro-choice, gun control, out front calling for immigration reform. if you look at those issues, hot button issues to the tea party right to the conservative movement what really stands out about chris christie is he checks off their boxes. this is a governor overwhelmingly re-elected in a blue state who calls himself pro-life. this is a governor opposed to gay marriage. a governor not out there on gun control like ruddy giuliani is. chri

because there's also the nasty finger-waving side to chris christie. captured by slate reporter and msnbc reporter dave weigelel. it shows christie berating a teacher who dared to challenge him after calling her, quote, you people. that teacher later ended a blog post about the encounter this way. what do "we people" want, governor christie? we want our schools back, we want to teach. we want to be allowed to help these children to grow, educationally, socially and emotionally. we want to be respected as we do this, not bullied. and joining us now, ryan grim, washington bureau chief from "washington post" and ryan engel, coauthor of "chris christie, inside story of his rise to power." there is this thing where particularly journalists love chris christie, think he's awesome, straight talker, gets this great press. but there is this other side to chris christie who does seem to be a teacher bully. which side of chris christie is more real? >> i think he says what he thinks. that teacher that you're talking about accused him of saying that schools were f

chris christie has problems besides not being a tea partier.not the perfect presidential candidate. all of the divisions within the parties aside. my guess he'll get a challenge from the center also. >> but yeah, you're right. the rest of the party will be divided. they'll give him a lot of room to seem reasonable. >> i've written on this subject. noting that which makes him immensely popular in new jersey, those every man characteristics and qualities and outbursts, if you string them together. people might start to question the temperance to be commander in chief. >> they absolutely will. not just string them in. but put it out on the campaign trail, surrounded by packs of reporters, hecklers. when you're in iowa, new hampshire, those early status don't have a huge bubble around you. people will stand up and try to provoke you and they will. the question is, does he have the discipline to go out and campaign and show he has an even temperament. that's a big test. people will wait to see if he can pass. i think it's an open question. >> we app

. >> it's thursday, november 7th, and woe is the burden of chris christie. may the blood-letting begin. >> that's a pretty huge ego. >> we need moderates like chris clibs christie. >> stop annoying me. >> shows shown a way of womening in new jersey. >> there's only one group to blame, the house majority and their speaker. >> he said it's because there's not enough compromise. >> shame on congress. >> i think it is terrific that he's brash and outspoken. >> maybe the folks in washington, d.c., should tune in th their tvs right now. >> it's been a great working relationship. >> president obama called chris christie to congratulate him and he got crap for that. >> it's all about chris christie. >> way, hawing, look -- hey, washington, look at me. >> how about christie spending one day campaigning for ken cuccinelli. >> look at the knives coming out. >> it's okay, chris. >>> a very good afternoon to you, and if you needed any further evidence that chris christie is now the anointed establishment front-runner for the 2016 republican presidential nomination, then l

the first gauntlet for chris christie is not a general election gauntlet.t is a primary gauntlet where he'll have to stand on the stage with one of these guys, maybe both of them, and engage in a conversation about his bona fides. so the one that was the most off for me was cruz's because he starts talking about he ran this race and congratulations, then he sort of looped it back into obama care sort of reminding people to your point about well, yeah, he's given up and he's allowing obama care in new jersey. so this is the dynamic christie is now fronting. i think christie has to take his time. don't do this on their timetable or their turf. he's now set the stage. and he can define the direction of this party almost indirectly around these folks without having to play the game they want him to play. >> let me try something. i love that thinking there. let me ask you michael duffy, test me on this. here's my theory. if they thought they were going to beat him down the road next time, they would need him in the general come 2016. if they want a confident vic

chris christie forged relationships with south jersey democrats. the end result was he did everything he could to manufacture a headline. something that i write about a lot. our national media is like a dog with a bone. is that two weeks ago in new jersey, chris christie had a 33 point lead. the much neglected democratic candidate there at the close of the race actually came up somewhat. not trying to paint a fantasy picture, but the same time democrats have construed -- have control of the state legislature and the minimum wage increase to chris christie vetoed one by the same percentage of the vote that he won by. new jersey is style over substance. the substantive result is that they voted against what chris christie stands for in all the other races.

chris christie kills two birds with one stone. he can be decent on immigration and raise money for his gubernatorial and presidential race. i think the politics will change on immigration not because of an election in new jersey but because the business community is having success with candidates in christie backing them as they take a more moderate position. >> he's absolutely correct on this. what we found is among asian and latino voters, a lot of them have a history of voting republican. it's the immigration issue that turns them off. as you saw in new jersey and virginia, two different takes on immigration issue, and christie did well with the latino voters. ken cuccinelli does not. christie wins. ken cuccinelli does not. what you find in the opinion polling, is that the consensus emerging around the senate plan here. it's going to be very difficult for the republicans to come up with something short of that and try to claim victory. >> we're going to come off the east coast and go out to colorado next after this short break.

i will take a shot at chris christie. if they are still engaged and let them fight it out. then make a decision about who is the candidate that you want to support. >> and the other is that by crazing christie, the more it fires up the tea party. >> that's the line of thought that if christie does well and gets over 60% and shows he is too appealing to liberals and democrats, the more it hurts him in a primary. you don't want to be seen to that point about democrats unhappy that they didn't take him down a notch. we may learn we should have been going after him. >> very impressive. he got to define himself. >> yeah and you remember there was a lot of pressure on who could run in the last general election. he said it wasn't his time and you have to wonder if he said maybe my time is coming. >> he sounds like a guy who wants to send a message nationally. you guys are coming back. we are going to talk about the middle next. a deep dive and why the gop is losing the more centrist members. check out the new home page for tomorrow's votes and don't forget to check back after the s

chris christie is the big success story.e tapper is at the headquarters and celebrating his win. jake, you spent a lot of time with the newly-elected or freshly elected governor chris christie today. what do you make of his general demeanor because it's a thumping victory and across the demographic board reading stats, 56% women, 21% black, 45% latino, that's a republican dream going into a general election. what does it say? >> that's the case he's trying to make. first of all, greetings from new jersey i should say. we're here at the head quarters and a celebrating crowd. people are excited and of course, this is about more than just being governor and about more than new jersey because governor christie is very clearly trying to make a case to the republican party nationally that there is a way to win back the white house by appealing to democrats, by appealing to independently dents, by appealing to minorities, and reaching out beyond republican based voters. that has been what governor christie has been saying since he

so it is not surprising to hear chris christie say these things. but again, chris christie is increasingly a problematic figure in the conservative movement, on the right. so to hear him take a swipe at somebody who is pretty popular among conservatives, that is something he may have to answer for in the coming years. >> we'll hear what newt gingrich has to say in just moments. but what is the tea leaf reading position on tomorrow? any surprises in store? is it pretty much in the bag? >> it is pretty much in the bag, the two races as they are in the off-off year, the new jersey governor race, and there is speculation that bill de blasio is going to win, the first time a democrat has won since 1989. and in new jersey, chris christie will roll up a 20, maybe 30-point win over democrat, barbara buono, one race that they're talking about, alabama's first congressional district, why do we care? it is a republican run off between bradley burn, against the tea party aligned christian conservative named dean young, if he wins he will be one of the most con

who said, where was chris christie. in fact, saying, that they, made an effort, apparently some senior conservative republicans reached out to christie. and asked him to come down to virginia and campaign for cuccinelli and christie said no. so, it's -- is going to play out. a lot closer than republicans thought. a lot of cuccinelli supporters bitter now looking at the result. thinking what if? what if they had more money? what if the republican establishment helped them? of course, some tea party republicans are going to say, hey, our message is fine. we just didn't have enough money. some establishment republicans to night are probably quietly a little concerned, cuccinelli got so close. it is not, means the tea party might not receive the message, that the establishment in the -- inside the republican party hoped they would receive after tonight? >> chuck if you add to cuccinelli's vote, the third party vote for the libertarian. you get a majority vote for conservative, two conservative candidates there in virginia. i

chris christie is carrying the women's vote against a female democratic opponent. 68%, chris christie will make the case. look at that, i can win amo women. that's not the only think he'll do. he's winning. 16% of the election in new jersey african americans. it's blue because they are going for bar bro buono and chris christi, up from 9% four years ago. chris christie will say i'm doing better than mccain or romney but built support among african americans. not so much in new jersey, la at that time tinos make up 8% of the population in new jersey but critically important in swing states. wolf, chris christie getting nearly half. 45% of the latino vote and that 32% and he can go and make the case to national republicans where voters we've been weak, i'm not only performing strong but improving. nearly half of the voters of new jersey today describe themselves as moderates. chris christi winning big among the voting blocks. that's the reason he's winning bi today. this is not a liberal state. president obama won it big both times but the mood is not liberal. split on october 50-49 and