Chris Christie Going Home to Do Some Hard Thinking

Chris Christie says he's heading home to New Jersey to "take a deep breath" and take stock of his struggling presidential bid. The New Jersey governor had banked on a strong finish in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, but he's on track to end up in 6th place. Christie tells supporters that he'll wait to see the final New Hampshire results before making a decision about the way ahead. But he says he can do that best from home, and not a hotel room in South Carolina—the site of the next Republican contest.

At the Atlantic, Clare Foran writes that Christie hadn't just "pinned his hopes on a strong showing" in the state, he worked for it. "Christie seemingly exhausted every tactic ... He worked hard to appease voters, spending countless hours answering their questions in town halls, playing the retail-politics game long seen as a key to victory in New Hampshire." Indeed, the AP reports he held more than 70 town halls events over the past few months. At the Star Ledger, Paul Mulshine sounds the death knell, writing, "It's looking like [Christie] will go down in history, but not for his sterling finish in New Hampshire. He'll be remembered for having finished off Rubio. It was a nice piece of work and he should be proud of it."