...It was just like the Quayle-Bergen thing all those years ago. But people's views have evolved and Portman is younger/better looking than Bergen was at the time-not to mention that unlike the Quayle criticism this is actually a real live woman being attacked and not a fictional character...
Not saying that Bush would've won re-election over Clinton had it not been for that...but it certainly didn't help and it REALLY irrepably damaged Dan Quayle, who up to then was already getting very little respect.
I think it was more the effect of Ross Perot than Murphy Brown. His nearly 20% of the vote came more from the GOP side than the Dems and it probably tilted the swing states into the Clinton side of the equation.
I tend to agree that Christie in 2012 is too early. If the economy continues to recover and he is able to continue to hold spending down it will make him more attractive. As it is right now the cuts made at the state level are mostly transferred to the local level. My property taxes went up last year and are going up again this year (assuming the budget he proposed is enacted). He is becoming more and more politically careful these days - a little less blunt. He didn't endorse Christine O'Donnell and wasn't what I would call a strong supporter of Palin's Tucson retorts. He isn't pushing to eliminate collective bargaining for public unions like his Wisconsin counterpart either - all indicating a more centrist stand. It may not be fair, but he probably needs to lose a bit of weight as well. Clinton may not have been the poster boy for being in shape, but he wasn't really badly overweight. (Some of those pictures of him jogging were painful to look at, though. Put it this way - it wasn't that hard to find a Secret Service agent to keep up with him - like it was when GW Bush was running) It has been a long time since we had an overweight President in the White House and like it or not - image is important.
