Poll: Chris Christie still unknown to most voters

Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is not well known to most Americans, including Republican primary voters, a new CBS News survey finds. Christie is considering a late entry into the race for the Republican presidential nomination and is expected to make a decision this week. 

A full 70 percent of voters say they are undecided about Christie or haven't heard enough about him, the poll found. Voters who did have an opinion of Christie were split, with 14 percent holding a favorable view and 15 percent holding an unfavorable view.

CBS

Republican primary voters were slightly more likely to hold an opinion about Christie, but even among this group, 63 percent were undecided or haven't heard enough about him. Among those who do hold an opinion, views were positive, with 29 percent saying they have a favorable impression and 9 percent holding an unfavorable view.

CBSNews.com special report: Election 2012

Christie is best known in the Northeast, where views are mixed: 22 percent favorable, 24 percent unfavorable, and 52 percent undecided or holding no opinion. Republicans, conservatives and supporters of the Tea Party were most likely to hold a positive view of Christie.

Pressure on Christie to enter the race has come largely from wealthy donors in the Northeast who are unhappy with the current crop of Republican presidential candidates. Asked if they would like to see Christie join the field, Republican primary voters offered a mixed response: 32 percent said yes, 38 percent said no and 30 percent said they didn't know.

The finding that Christie is relatively unknown underlines a serious challenge facing the potential candidate. If Christie enters the race he will have just a few short months to develop a platform and fundraising network and make himself better known to primary voters, who are now expected to begin going to the polls in early January.

Read the full poll (PDF)

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This poll was conducted by telephone from September 28-October 2, 2011 among 1,012 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[rwsmith29456]

If Repubs can narrow down this huge field of potential candidates it would be easier to know something about all the candidates. Then they need to do a lot of introduction because there have been candidates that have been crammed down our throats for years.

[Forty-Four]

Ya, but out of their huge field, they don't have any real candidates that I would support. In the primary I think I would vote for Christie, if he decided to run. But in the general election, I think I will stick with Obama. Afterall, it is not like he is the sole blame for what has happened to this country. It isn't his fault that the people decided to sweep Republicans into the house to create disorder and cause much disagreement with Democrats resulting in nothing getting done.

[Forty-Four]

So far, I like him. It isn't like the GOP have any real good options.

[Rcarlton3]

I hope he runs. When people hear what he has to offer they will see what all of us in NJ already know. ChrisChristiesPants.com

[southpaw99]

If the news media is that desperate to report on potential republican candidates, maybe they could just look-up some names in the phone-book.
Then they could analyze and dissect the possibilities over and over and over again.
How entertaining!

[Progress4USA]

by EmpireGeorge-_ October 4, 2011 10:15 AM EDT
We made room for the smokin' starvin' kenyan didn't we.
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Yes Empress, Herman Cain is running...

[signseeker1717]

Progress doesn't need clarification, Georgie, but since you're getting "physical" and into creative name calling, try these on for "size":

Cain/Christie ticket, variations suitable for all demographics within the Republican party:

Pizza Man/Coupon Customer (NASCAR, Hank Williams, Jr. fans)

999/(000) ("Fair Tax" fanatics, dump Social Security)

Laurel/Hardy (Family Values, hates current Hollywood)

The Pea/The Pod (pro-lifers, Palin supporters, UFO conspiracy theorists and agribusiness)

Sorry, still no "middle" ground candidate(s). Keep looking.

[mecury69]

Who wants a guy who doesn't want them?

People with issues...serious issues.

[Progress4USA]

That's a question I've been asking my Log Cabin Repub friends...they seem to stick with the GOP too????

[signseeker1717]

The Republican field is crowded with candidates, and yet they're STILL looking. What that says is there are so many splits in the party they can't agree amongst themselves, and the MAJORITY of them don't really like ANY of their choices. They're shopping for a "one size fits all" candidate. I'll leave the rest to the wags...

[msimamaji]

What exactly is Christ Christie's claim to fame?

From the news I've gotten, he got a lot of kudos for bad-mouthing public school teachers. The moral for young people - Don't go into teaching; con people by selling phony derivatives.

Then, during tropical storm Irene, he bad-mouthed President Obama for not bringing FEMA funds fast enough. But then, doesn't the GOP hate the FEDS, so why should Christie demand federal aid when flood waters rise? Why doesn't Christie make New Jersey a model fed-free state?

I also noticed that Christie likes to fly a lot to various fund raisers. I wonder what sort of pay-back his political donors receive? I'd also like to know what is the state of New Jersey's infrastructure.

Finally, what is Christie's stand on man-made carbon emissions? How does he propose to solve the problem? I hope he realizes that the more carbon we burn, the more extreme weather we will witness. So we will need much more money for FEMA and much more money to rebuild our infrastructure.

Unlike Christie, who will simply spread the traditional GOP lies, Obama is telling the people the truth, and he's getting crucified for his efforts. Christie is a shoo-in for 212, but when a country lives by delusions, it signs its own death warrant. Look at what happened to the late, great USSR.

[jackpold]

never mind that stop all free trade agreements ,and put embargo tax on everything that comes here from foreign coutries ,,foreign cars should be taxed 5000.00 on each if americans want foreign junk and want to help asia not the u.s.a. then make them pay for it ,,this money and other embargos on small appliances etc. could be helping our coutry not making asia the fatted calf ,,we dont have jobs here because we dont make anything here anymore we invent these things and the rest of the world makes them ,,sells them to us and our jobs and money leave our beautiful country ,,people better wake up fast real fast

[unclebernies]

Christie is so heavy that when he gets on a scale it says one at a time please.

[jtdev1]

God!, How the GOP will grab any FAT SLOB to run for President...

They'd have to build a whole new wing on the White House just to house this PIG.

[Forty-Four]

Calm down you two