Can The Candidate Move Beyond 'The Christie Show'?

WNYC Radio | By NPR Staff

Published July 1, 2015 at 12:12 PM EDT

A supporter at Gov. Chris Christie's announcement Tuesday.

It was the least suspenseful cliffhanger in the history of cliffs.

Governor Christie has, essentially, been running for higher office for years. But as of Tuesday he is now, officially, a presidential candidate.

This week the Christie Tracker podcast, from WNYC and New Jersey Public Radio, headed to Livingston High School for analysis on the announcement.

Joining host David Furst are New Jersey Public Radio's Matt Katz, the Star-Ledger's Tom Moran and Robert Costa, national political reporter for the Washington Post

Costa says that Christie's speech was 'a big moment for people in New Jersey — but he's not so sure how many Republicans nationally are paying close attention.

He added that Christie is "running on his personality, his ability to communicate. It's not so much a policy campaign, it's not an ideological campaign. There are aspects of that, but this is about the force of a persona and attracting people to it. You see these kinds of crowds ... people who just come to see the Christie show as much as the Christie message."

Listen to the podcast above (and also check out WNYC's Data News App: The Christie Tracker.)