Opinion: Chris Christie is trying to do the impossible

Editor’s Note: Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author and editor of 25 books, including the New York Times best-seller, “Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Lies and Legends About Our Past” (Basic Books). Follow him on Twitter @julianzelizer. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.

Chris Christie unleashed blistering attacks on former President Donald Trump in what is likely to be yet another futile attempt to stem the tide of Trumpism.

Christie, who has been cautiously exploring the possibility of launching another presidential bid, appeared at a town hall in New Hampshire Thursday and warned that Trump should not be reelected because he’s a “failure in policy and a failure in character.”

Christie didn’t stop there. He put forth a barrage of criticism, highlighting the promises that Trump failed to fulfill and the “flat-out lies” that he told. Christie also slammed Trump for allowing his “own little hurt feelings” to get ahead of the “interests of our democracy.”

Trump, Christie argued, “is a TV star. Nothing more. Nothing less. A TV star. And let me suggest to you that if we put him back in the White House, the reruns will be worse than the original show was.”

Although many observers would say that Christie’s decision to criticize Trump comes many years too late, he is still only one of a handful of Republicans who is willing to speak out against the former president. Most members of his party either like Trump or are terrified of sticking their necks out to share what they think. Like Sen. Mitt Romney, Christie is trying to claim the elusive #nevertrump lane among those who fear that the party is radicalizing itself to political self-destruction.

The problem is that, right now, the strategy won’t work. Trump is the voice of the party, plain and simple. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was considered one of the most promising Republicans in the nation, has seen flagging poll numbers as Trump has started to unleash his attacks on the fellow Floridian. Meanwhile, Trump remains extremely popular in the GOP and Trumpism is the dominant ideological framework through which many, if not most, Republican voters see the world.

In some ways, Christie’s career reflects the character of the modern GOP. There was a time when Christie, who served as governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018, was seen as one of the most formidable figures in the party and a likely presidential candidate who had a decent chance of winning. He seemed to be the kind of Republican who could appeal to both red and blue America as he focused on traditional Reagan-era issues such as deregulation, tax cuts and reduced social safety net spending, tending to avoid some of the most controversial topics that have animated the far right.

His reputation for bullying — remember the time he yelled at a voter on the New Jersey Boardwalk? – was counterbalanced by reports of his capacity to understand the details of public policy and to handle the responsibilities of executive leadership.

To be sure, his polls were never solid, fluctuating from 52% during his first year in office to 15% at a low point in 2017. The high point came in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Christie saw his ratings surge following a joint appearance in the Garden State with President Barack Obama, although many Republicans were furious that he praised the Democratic president just days before the 2012 election.

But the promise of a pugnacious domestic conservative who had the capacity to act in bipartisan ways seemed to make him the perfect heir to President George W. Bush. New Jersey was his Texas, a proving ground for what he could do in the Oval Office.

Everything came to a crashing halt with “Bridgegate,” a scandal that erupted when two of the three lanes from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to the George Washington Bridge were shut down in 2013. The closure resulted in huge traffic issues, and federal prosecutors said that the decision to shut down the lane was an act of political vengeance. While Christie denied all wrongdoing and maintained he had no knowledge of the lane closures, the Republican’s reputation was badly damaged.

It turns out, however, that Bridgegate was the least of his problems. Even if the scandal had never happened, Christie still would not have been able to win the 2016 Republican nomination. Trump appeared on the national stage and won the nomination by expressing hard right views on key issues such as immigration, while practicing a combative, smashmouth approach to partisanship that Republicans had learned to love ever since Congressman Newt Gingrich exploded old norms in the 1980s and 1990s.

Despite everything that happened during his presidency, from the horrors of Charlottesville to the effort to overturn the 2020 election, Trump’s standing has remained strong within the party. Few Republicans dare to challenge him and even DeSantis recently sided with Trump by condemning Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s indictment as “un-American.”

Christie can’t compete with this. He can rail against Trump’s record, warn about the genuine dangers that could come from a second term, and continue to position himself as a candidate capable of governing. But right now, that is not what most of the Republican party wants.

The Republican electorate has proved that many times – sticking with Trump despite countless controversies, two impeachments, and numerous legal battles. There is no reason for voters to pick a Trump-lite, like Gov. DeSantis, when they can have the real thing. And Republicans who are waiting for a candidate who can win over the party by focusing on governing and coalition building, like Christie, perhaps, are waiting for Godot.

Barring a dramatic event, the time for Christie has come and gone. Bridgegate wasn’t his problem; the state of the Republican Party was the problem. Right now, Trump is the dominant player in the GOP. These days, the #nevertrump lane looks a lot like those from Fort Lee to the George Washington bridge in 2013 – closed for business.