Give it a few more months, and Chris Christie will be a bona fide conservative hero.
When the bridge scandal first broke, I joked that it would help improve Christie's popularity with the GOP base. Being a dick and punishing Democrats are critical components of any conservative hero's arsenal.
Now Christie's popularity has collapsed among pretty much everyone. The exception? Yup. The conservative base.
While the poll showed a drop in the positive feelings toward New Jersey Gov. Christie overall and a drop in positive feelings even among Republicans, Mr. Christie’s numbers actually improved among more strongly partisan Core Republicans. Among Core Republicans, only 32% had positive feelings about Mr. Christie in October. In January, that number climbed to 42%.
Exhibit B:
“We are very excited to announce that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will speak at CPAC 2014," American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas told Yahoo News. "At this year's CPAC — and through our theme 'ACU's Golden Anniversary: Getting It Right for 50 Years' — we will celebrate how conservatism has shaped our past and look to the future with excitement. This will be the year that conservatives begin pulling the nation back from the brink of Barack Obama's disaster with a movement that inspires, unites and discovers new solutions to our current challenges.”
Apparently, no "celebration" of conservatism would be complete without having the pre-indictment Christie speak at their conference.
So to recap, Christie's polling among the wingnut base is up, and CPAC, after snubbing Christie last year, has reversed course this year.
Just watch. They'll give him a standing ovation at the conference.