In Spite Of All The GOP Assurances, Christie Was Hurt By The Bridge-Closing Scandal

Ever since the scandal broke about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie closing lanes of the George Washington Bridge (and creating traffic jams) to retaliate against a political opponent, many Republicans have tried to say it was not the governor's fault -- and that he has not been hurt by it. But to say that, they have had to ignore several polls that say otherwise.
Now there is one more -- the NBC News / Marist Poll. This survey was done of 1,039 registered voters nationwide between January 12th and 14th (with a margin of error of 3 points). The poll shows that, even though it has not been conclusively proven he ordered the bridge lane closings, he has already dropped 10 points in a matchup with Hillary Clinton (the presumed Democratic nominee for president in 2016). He had seemed to be getting closer to Clinton on a national scale back in December -- trailing by only a 3 point margin. That margin is now 13 points.
This does not mean Christie can't make up that difference in the next two years. But that's a substantial drop in less than a month, and the story is far from over. The survey did show that Christie still has a slight lead over other Republican hopefuls (although he is well under 20%, meaning there is still no real favorite among Republicans). Christie was at 18% in December. That chart is below: