Back when I was a wee Mad Biologist, there was a ‘litmus test’* around national security: Would you trust Presidential Candidate X with the Nukular Arsenal? (conservatives, on occasion, try to dredge this up, especially when confronted with a female opponent). Fast forward to 2014, and there’s a new test: would you trust a candidate with the massive surveillance powers of the NSA? (needless to say, I’m not optimistic about any of the well-intentioned reform efforts). Sure, the diehards will stick by him because they believe that any Democrat would forcibly convert their kids to Mexicanism and force them to pray in Homosexual, but many people could see Christie as a threat. Not a bully, but a threat.

Given the Christie administration’s misuse of partial control over the Port Authority, that question answers itself. Rub that together with the basic threat to public safety caused by the bridge closings and with a supposed education reformer’s disregard for school attendance, and this could be damaging.

On the other hand, the Democrats are the Most Hapless Political Party in Recorded History™ so who knows if they’ll go on the offensive here.

*The colloquial meaning of this term suggests most users have never actually run a litmus test.