Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
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Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie speaks during the Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Sept. 16, 2015.(Photo: Frederic J. Brown, AFP/Getty Images)
Instead of getting a debate boost for his sagging presidential hopes, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got the silent treatment from CNN moderators Wednesday night.
Christie endured a stretch of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>32 minutes without being called on in the second Republican presidential primary debate and missed out as Donald Trump and other candidates traded volleys in front of tens of millions of viewers on important topics such as the Iran nuclear deal, the Syria crisis and Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine.
After being asked eight minutes into the debate by moderator Jake Tapper if the positions he takes are “politically expedient,” Christie answered, then waited off-camera from his perch at the far right side of the stage for another chance for a half-hour — an eternity in a presidential debate.
Christie received similar treatment when Fox News hosted the first debate last month. Christie overall got a little over six minutes of speaking time then.
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Christie complained about that lack of air time when he was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>noting at one point the Fox moderators asked 20 questions in a row without calling on him.
“Stay tuned — we might be changing tactics,” Christie told Fallon.
But Christie was powerless to change his fate, at least in the opening 45 minutes of the debate,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and his low standing in the polls gives him a hard argument on why he should get more time.
Results of two polls released this week, the ABC News/Washington Post survey Monday and the CBS News/New York Times poll Tuesday, each showed Christie had slipped to 1%, placing him in 11th place.
Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum; former New Yorkgovernor George Pataki; Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; former Arkansasgovernor Mike Huckabee; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; businessman Donald Trump, former Floridagovernor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie take the stage during the CNN Republican presidential debate.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> Chris Carlson, AP
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Christie's air time did pick up later on in the marathon three-hour debate.
According to a tally by NPR, Christie had moved up to record the fifth most air time at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>12<span style="color: Red;">*</span>minutes, 36 seconds.Trump led at 18<span style="color: Red;">*</span>minutes, 47<span style="color: Red;">*</span>seconds.
Christie squeezed in a gentle criticism of Trump. He said Trump's proposal to deport the country's more than 10 million undocumented immigrants would be "an undertaking that almost none of us could accomplish given the current levels of funding and the current number of law enforcement officers.''
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"But here’s what we need to do, and I think this is where Donald is absolutely right.'' Christie continued, "What we need to do is to secure our border and we need to do it with more than just a wall. We need to use electronics, we need to use drones, we need to use the FBI, DEA and ATF and yes, we need to take the fingerprint of every person who comes into this country on a visa, and when they overstay their visa, we need to tap them on the shoulder and say you have overstayed your welcome.''
Tapper's first question to Christie was about an assertion by neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who hasn’t held elected office, that an outsider is unlike career politicians who “have their finger in the air to see and do what is politically expedient.”
Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, left, speaks as Republican presidential candidate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie looks on during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on Sept. 16, 2015, in Simi Valley, Calif.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Mark J. Terrill, AP)
“I know Ben doesn’t think that about me,” Christie said to laughs. “I’m sure he was talking about one of the other guys.”
“As far as being an outsider is concerned, let me tell you this, Jake, I’m a Republican in New Jersey. I wake up every morning as an outsider. I wake up every morning with a Democratic Legislature who’s trying to beat my head in and fight me because I’m trying to bring conservative change to a state that needed it desperately,” Christie said.
“Everyone can talk up here about their credentials, but the bottom line is, every morning, I get up, I vetoed 400 bills from a crazy liberal Democratic legislature, not one of them has been overridden.”
Christie said Americans want change and that he “will be the vessel through which they can fix this country. But it’s not about me, it’s about all of you, and getting this government off your back and out of your way and letting you succeed.”
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Wednesday’s CNN main stage debate included all 10 candidates from the Fox main stage debate plus an 11th candidate in Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive.
It’s a 16-candidate field since former Texas Gov. Rick Perry suspended his campaign last week. CNBC hosts the next debate Oct. 28. The first nominating states are Iowa with a caucus Feb. 1 and New Hampshire with a primary Feb. 9.
Earlier Wednesday, four low-polling Republican presidential hopefuls took the stage in a preliminary debate — former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
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