TRENTON — Stubborn? Chris Christie? The majority of New Jersey voters surveyed think so. A poll conducted by Rutgers Eagleton Institute and released today asked voters to consider a list of adjectives that best described their swaggering governor. The consensus, across party lines and political philosophy, was that Christie is stubborn. "Did that come from a poll of the...
A majority of voters polled said they found Gov. Chris Christie, pictured in this April 4 photo, to be "stubborn."TRENTON — Stubborn? Chris Christie?
The majority of New Jersey voters surveyed think so.
A poll conducted by Rutgers Eagleton Institute and released today asked voters to consider a list of adjectives that best described their swaggering governor. The consensus, across party lines and political philosophy, was that Christie is stubborn.
"Did that come from a poll of the Republican members of the Legislature?" Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) joked.
Of the 773 New Jersey residents polled in the last week of March, 62 percent said "stubborn" described him "very well" and 20 percent pegged it at "somewhat well."
The governor’s perceived obstinance isn’t a partisan issue. Seventy percent of the Democrats and 52 percent of Republicans surveyed agreed that "stubborn" described him "very well."
A majority of all respondents also agreed that Christie was smart, independent and a strong leader.
Those who approve of the job the governor is doing also chose terms like "reformer," "effective" and "moral." Among those who approve of his job performance "strong leader" was the description most preferred.
The governor’s office declined to comment on the poll.
When focusing on the half of those polled who do not approve of Christie’s job performance, the characteristics get less glowing. They described him as a "bully," "self-centered" and, the term most frequently chosen from several, was "arrogant."
The poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, also asked what emotions Christie evoked; 49 percent said Christie made them feel "worried" and 42 percent said "angry." Only 36 percent said they felt "proud" and 38 percent said "enthusiastic."
The poll also asked participants where they received most of their information about the Republican governor, with the plurality -- 37 percent -- saying it was from newspapers.
Christie has become known as the "YouTube governor" because of the many combative videos that have been posted on the Internet -- most by staff members -- though only 30 percent of the New Jerseyans polled said they had ever seen a video of him online.
For Democrats, who have sparred with the governor over practically every issue that has come before the Legislature, it didn’t take a poll to determine whether Christie is stubborn.
"Asking people if Chris Christie is stubborn is like asking Charlie Sheen if he’s winning," Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said.
Read the complete poll results here (PDF).
Previous coverage:
• Gov. Christie sees little change in his approval rating among N.J. voters, poll shows
• Gov. Christie wouldn't get more votes than President Obama in race for White House, poll says
• N.J. voters prefer state government to be politically divided, poll shows