Polling conducted over the weekend challenges many of the assumptions surrounding “Bridge-Gate” that politics junkies might take for granted. Given the fact that the scandal surrounding the closure of two lanes of the George Washington Bridge in September of last year has dominated the news cycle since Wednesday, it might surprise you to learn that Gov. Chris Christie has not taken a major hit in polls. This fact might surprise you less, however, when you learn that only a miniscule number of Americans are following the story at all “closely.”

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Two polls released on Monday shed light on how the scandal is altering Americans’ impression of Christie. In New Jersey, a Monmouth University poll showed Christie’s favorability among New Jersey voters down by 6 points from December – from 65 to 59 percent. While Christie’s support among Democrats has dropped to just 38 percent, he maintains the approval of 62 percent of New Jersey independents and 89 percent of Republicans.

A Pew Research Center survey of the national landscape found that only 16 percent of the country is following the bridge closures

story and Christie’s apology “closely” – ranking behind the nation’s cold weather, the economy in general, and the debate over whether to extend long-term unemployment.

It is expected that Christie’s image should suffer some among all adults, and it has. 16 percent told Pew pollsters that they have a “less favorable” impression of Christie as a result of this scandal while only 6 percent have a “more favorable” impression of the governor today. Within that 6 percent, however, are 9 percent of self-described Republicans. Of those Americans following the story “very” or “fairly closely,” 11 percent of respondents have a more favorable impression of Christie including 18 percent of self-identified Republicans.

The political media’s aggressive focus on this scandal and the elevation of a number of Republican critics was expected to galvanize the GOP base. For Christie, who is seen by conservatives as a creation of the media – an image the governor has fostered with repeated appearances on venues like late night television – this past week’s aggressive coverage of this scandal has shown conservatives a newly sympathetic side

of the governor. One conservative radio host I spoke with last week who had been suspicious of Christie in the past summed up this phenomenon succinctly when he told me that the Garden State governor is being attacked today by “all the right people.”

One danger sign for Christie, however, comes from this latest Monmouth survey which found New Jersey voters becoming skeptical of whether their governor has “the right temperament” to be president. Whereas 56 percent of New Jersey voters said that Christie did have the correct temperament to be the leader of the free world in September, 2013, only 44 percent say the same today. Nearly a majority of New Jersey voters – 49 percent – said that he does not, up from just 34 percent last year.

h/t the Washington Post

[Photo via screen grab ]

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Tags: Chris Christie