If Chris Christie goes down, who can Republican moderates turn to?

Christie is the last chance to save the party from Rand Paul or Ted Cruz

Chris Christie
(Image credit: (Zelevansky/Getty Images))

The moderate wing of the Republican Party was already on its last feathers, but some fearful of a Tea Party takeover hoped blue state Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) would let them fly again. However, with Christie's political career suddenly in jeopardy, Republican moderates may find themselves with no strong alternatives. And they may start to ask themselves: Why am I still in this party?

Betting on Christie should have always made moderates nervous. Lurking behind that cheerful pugnacity is a reckless streak, which emerged when he thought it wise to publicly berate a school teacher in the closing days of his re-election campaign, or when he creepily told a female heckler criticizing his record on job creation that "something may be going down tonight but it ain't gonna be jobs, sweetheart."

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Bill Scher is the executive editor of LiberalOasis.com and the online campaign manager at Campaign for America's Future. He is the author of Wait! Don't Move To Canada!: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America, a regular contributor to Bloggingheads.tv and host of the LiberalOasis Radio Show weekly podcast.