Chris Christie lashes out at bridge scandal critics who say his attitude inspired lane closures (via NJ.com)
BRICK — Gov. Chris Christie today sharply dismissed critics who say he may have created a culture of brashness and retaliation that led his staff members to orchestrate last year’s controversial lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. The…
Magyar admits mistake, promises to fix it but doesn’t
By Art Gallagher, [email protected]
Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray responded to my post this morning, Patrick Murray is emphatic that his next poll will be negative for Christie, about his quote in Mark Magyar’s anti-Chistie spin piece on NJSpotlight with an email asserting that his analysis was mischaracteriszed.
Patrick Murray
Murray provided an email exchange between himself and Magyar wherein Magyar admits his mistake and promises to fix it.
Murray said:
My assessment of what is likely to happen to public opinion going forward was based on an analysis of the underlying dynamics of my own poll released on April 2 — specifically the public’s underlying initial skepticism of the Mastro report was in my own poll and my analysis of potential movement in that opinion. Mark, by his own admission, mischaracterized my analysis, which was based on actual public opinion data that I have collected and analyzed.
In the NJSpotlight piece, Magyar quoted Murray as follows:
A Quinnipiac Poll released last week showed that 56 percent of New Jerseyans regarded the report as a “whitewash” and only 36 percent believed it to be a “legitimate investigation.” Even more ominously, 65 percent of voters knew of the Hoboken case, and 57 percent of that group believe Zimmer’s allegation that the Christie administration improperly withheld Sandy aid from her city because she refused to support the Rockefeller Group development.
Murray said he expected to see similar results in his next Monmouth Poll. “It will be negative. This is not going to be positive,” Murray stated emphatically, asserting that the controversy over the Mastro report clearly resonated with voters. “The question now with Christie is, ‘Have we hit a floor where a certain percentage of people will defend him no matter what, and everyone else will attack him?’”
Murray corrected Magyar in a email at 9;32 this morning:
By Art Gallagher, [email protected]
UPDATE 4:15PM: Murray says Magyar/NJSpotlight mischaracterised his analysis. Read the next chapter here.
Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray already knows that his next poll about Bridgegate and the Mastro Report, will have an negative outcome for Governor Chris Christie.
Murray is quoted by Mark Magyar in a NJSpotlight piece posted this morning saying emphatically that his next poll will have negative results.
“The Mastro report raised more questions than it answered about what is going on in the Christie administration,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, noted. “Now, the release of the memos has raised even more questions, including questions about the credibility of the Mastro report itself.”
Murray said he could not imagine what Christie and his top advisers were thinking when they settled on their current legal and political strategy. “Every time they put something out, they undercut their credibility,” he said. “Everything they do provides fodder that keeps this investigation alive and keeps this story alive. The report was overly protective of the governor, and now everyone is looking through the memos to see what the report left out. Nothing gets settled, everything looks worse.”
A Quinnipiac Poll released last week showed that 56 percent of New Jerseyans regarded the report as a “whitewash” and only 36 percent believed it to be a “legitimate investigation.” Even more ominously, 65 percent of voters knew of the Hoboken case, and 57 percent of that group believe Zimmer’s allegation that the Christie administration improperly withheld Sandy aid from her city because she refused to support the Rockefeller Group development.
Murray said he expected to see similar results in his next Monmouth Poll. “It will be negative. This is not going to be positive,” Murray stated emphatically, asserting that the controversy over the Mastro report clearly resonated with voters. “The question now with Christie is, ‘Have we hit a floor where a certain percentage of people will defend him no matter what, and everyone else will attack him?’” (emphasis added)
Murray enjoys a well-earned reputation for producing polls that most accurately match the results of elections in New Jersey. However, his declaration of a poll’s results before he’s asked a question raises serious questions about his credibility as a political scientist and the perceived “independence” of his analysis.
In fairness I should point out that it is possible that Murray already conducted his survey and hasn’t reported the results yet.
Posted: April 16th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2016 Presidential Politics, Bridgegate, Chris Christie, Dawn Zimmer, Hoboken, Monmouth University Poll, NJ Media, Patrick Murray | Tags: Bridgegate, Mark Magyar, Mastro Report, Monmouth Poll, NJSpotlight, Patrick Murray, Randy Mastro, Robert Del Tufo | Comments Off on Patrick Murray is emphatic that his next poll will be negative for Christie
He Said, She Said: Quotable Moments From The Bridgegate Interviews (via NJSpotlight)
Newly released documents offer additional details about the scandals enveloping the Christie Administration. The documents are summaries of interviews with 70 people that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s lawyers conducted as part of an internal review…
Judge Tosses Out Subpoenas in GWB Investigation (via NJTV News with Mike Schneider)
A big development today in the bridge scandal investigation. A judge sided with two major figures in the case, tossing out the subpoenas against Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien and ruling against the select oversight committee that issued them. The committee…
Sweeney walks back comments on halting NJ bridge scandal investigation (via NJ.com)
NEWARK — Hours after Senate President Stephen Sweeney floated the idea of halting a legislative investigation of the George Washington Bridge scandal, he issued a statement saying the panel still has lots of work to do. “I do not believe the committee…
Sweeney: Stop bridge scandal legislative investigation if judge rules against committee (via NJ.com)
NEWARK — The state legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge scandal should “walk away” if a judge doesn’t rule in its favor on a key case, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney said today. State Superior Court Judge…
GWB panel co-chairs spar on Sunday TV with report’s author, Giuliani (via NJ.com)
Democrats’ battle to challenge a report commissioned by Gov. Chris Christie on September’s George Washington Bridge lane closures took to the airwaves Sunday, when the co-chairs of a legislative panel looking into the matter squared off against…
Governor Chris Christie’s held is first press conference since January 9 this afternoon to answer questions regarding the Mastro Report into the George Washington Bridge lane closures known as Bridgegate that was released yesterday.
Christie announced the resignation of Port Authority Chairman David Samson in his statement prior to taking reporters questions.
The press conference was available live on MMM via livestream.
A recording of the press conference is made available courtesy of NJTV.
Posted: March 28th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Bridgegate, Chris Christie | Tags: Bridgegate, David Samson, Governor Chris Christie Press Conference, livestream, NJTV, Port Authority of NY/NJ | 3 Comments »
MMM photo/Art Gallagher
Governor Chris Christie will end his 75 day exile from the New Jersey press corps this afternoon at 2:30 with a press conference in his outer office.
Christie has not taken questions from the press since his January 9 marathon press conference about the revelations that members of his team had orchestrated the George Washington Bridge lane closures last September.
Yesterday the lawyers that Christie hired to investigate GWB lane closures and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegations that he, through Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, threaten to withhold Sandy relief from Hoboken unless Zimmer secured a zoning approval for the Rockefeller Group, a client of Port Authority Chairman David Samson, released their findings. The report backed up Christie’s claims from his January 9 press conference that he had no involvement in the lane closures and Guadagno’s denial of Zimmer’s allegations. The investigation cost New Jersey taxpayers roughly $1 million.
The report blamed Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly and his former #2 at Port Authority David Wildstein for the GWB lane closures and concluded that the widely speculated motive for the lane closures…political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich…did not make sense. The report says the motive for the lane closures remains a mystery. Kelly’s termination from Christie’s staff was announced at the January 9 press conference, the day after her “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email to Wildstein became public.
Posted: March 28th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Bridgegate, Chris Christie | Tags: Bridgegate Press Conference, Chris Christie, Governor Chris Christie Press Conference, Press Conference | Comments Off on Christie to hold press conference this afternoon© Copyright 2024 | MoreMonmouthMusings | All Rights Reserved