{"id":49004,"date":"2014-01-13T13:26:37","date_gmt":"2014-01-13T18:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2014\/01\/13\/christie-story-attracts-little-public-interest\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:10:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:10:26","slug":"christie-story-attracts-little-public-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2014\/01\/13\/christie-story-attracts-little-public-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Christie Story Attracts Little Public Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Survey Report<\/h2>\n\n
\"Views<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

The public paid far more attention to last week\u2019s cold snap than to the controversy swirling around New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. There also has been little short-term change in opinions about Christie: 60% say their opinion of Christie has not changed in recent days, while 16% now view him less favorably and 6% more favorably.<\/p>\n\n

The national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Jan. 9-12 among 1,006 adults, finds that just 18% paid very close attention to Christie\u2019s apology on Jan. 9 for the highway lane closures ordered by his aides. By contrast, 44% very closely followed news about the cold winter weather that gripped much of the U.S. and 28% tracked news about the economy.<\/p>\n\n

The release of a book by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates that criticized the Obama administration drew even less interest than news about Christie. Just 11% followed news about Gates\u2019 book very closely.<\/p>\n\n

\"Winter<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

The survey finds that majorities of Republicans (69%), Democrats (55%) and independents (60%) say that their opinion of Christie has not changed lately. Among Republicans, about as many say their opinion has become more favorable (9%) as less favorable (10%).<\/p>\n\n

More Democrats say their opinion has become less favorable (25%) than more favorable (3%). Among independents, 14% say their opinion of Christie has become less favorable and 6% more favorable.<\/p>\n\n

\"More<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Those who followed news about Christie\u2019s apology at least fairly closely are more likely to have changed their opinions about the New Jersey government in recent days. Nonetheless, 57% of those who tracked news about Christie say their opinion of him has not changed; 29% say it has become less favorable, while 11% say it has become more favorable.<\/p>\n\n

Republicans are about as likely as Democrats to have followed the Christie story at least fairly closely last week (43% vs. 46%). Like Republicans overall, those who followed the story at least fairly closely are closely divided between those who are more favorable to Christie (18%) and less favorable (17%), with 62% saying their opinion hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n\n

Democrats who closely followed Christie\u2019s apology have come to have sharply less favorable opinions of Christie: 43% say their opinion is now less favorable, 3% more favorable, and half (50%) say their opinion hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n\n

This Week\u2019s News<\/h3>\n\n

The most closely followed story of the week was the cold winter weather that swept much of the country. About three-quarters of the public followed the news very closely (44%) or fairly closely (32%). Attention was lowest in the West, where 28% paid very close attention to the news, compared with 55% of those in the Midwest, 51% of those in the East and 43% of those in the South.<\/p>\n\n

About three-in-ten (28%) very closely followed reports about the U.S. economy, while two-in-ten (19%) very closely tracked the debate in Washington over extending long-term unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n\n

Overall, 18% say they followed news about Christie\u2019s apology for the lane closures ordered by his aides very closely. Interest in this story was higher in the East (26% very closely) and Midwest (23%) than in the South or West (14% each).<\/p>\n\n

Just one-in-ten (11%) very closely followed news about former Defense Secretary Robert Gates\u2019 new book, in which he is critical of the Obama administration. An identical percentage (11%) paid very close attention to the fighting in and around the Iraqi city of Fallujah. More Republicans (17%) than Democrats (7%) very closely followed the story last week.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Survey Report The public paid far more attention to last week\u2019s cold snap than to the controversy swirling around New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. There also has been little short-term change in opinions about Christie: 60% say their opinion of Christie has not changed in recent days, while 16% now view him less favorably and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"Recent Opinions of New Jersey Governor Are Largely Unchanged ","sub_title":"Recent Opinions of New Jersey Governor Are Largely Unchanged 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