Chris Christie's 2016 tightrope walk

New Jersey's Republican governor is among the frontrunners for the GOP nomination. But can he win back the conservative base without losing his moderate appeal?

Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) is a near-lock to win re-election in November. The presidential race is an entirely different story.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

If you hear a grinding sound, it may be New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie shifting gears to run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He's clearly gearing up — as evidenced by his shoring up of political positions, aggressive outreach to both party pragmatists and the conservative base, criticizing of Republican rivals, and attempts to straighten conservative noses still out of joint from the well-publicized independent streak he displayed during former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's ill-fated 2012 campaign.

A Quinnipiac poll earlier this month found Christie to be America's hottest politician. But it's a delicate task for him to keep his centrist branding while wooing at least a portion of the conservatives he'd need to win primaries. So Christie is playing political chess. In a bid to boost his conservative bona fides, Christie recently refused to sign three gun control bills, prompting The Nation's Zoe Carpenter to write that Christie's "pivot from moderate governor to contestant in the GOP presidential primaries is underway." Christie is not veering right on every issue, though. Continuing his long-running moderate streak, Christie signed a law making New Jersey the second state after California to ban gay conversion therapy, and eased restrictions on medical marijuana. Here's Michelle Cottle at The Daily Beast on Christie's "delicate social issues dance":

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Joe Gandelman is a syndicated columnist for Cagle Cartoons and is the editor of The Moderate Voice blog.