Inside the Beltway: The persistence of Eastwood

Democrats give the former first lady a 91 percent approval rating — and a 78 percent to Mr. Biden. Republicans offer a grudging 37 percent approval to Mr. Clinton and 20 percent to the vice president.

She’s got some advantages. Mrs. Clinton is a high-profile entity who’s been away from the contentious fray of Washington politics, at least until now. The oft-boisterous vice president remains at the epicenter and will, in fact, journey to Virginia this week to talk up gun control issues with Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine.

“Let the handicapping begin,” says Mr. Holyk.

ROMNEY EMERGES

Critics made much out of the fact that a low-key Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, did not attend President Obama’s second inauguration Monday. But wait. The couple are coming to the nation’s capital for an honorary luncheon Friday that features a patriotic invitation.

“Two major Romney campaign fundraisers, Virginia philanthropist Catherine Reynolds and hotel magnate Bill Marriott Jr., have invited guests to wear business attire to a luncheon at Washington’s J.W. Marriott Hotel. Reynolds’s office confirmed that the Romneys would be on hand. The event’s invitation is topped by a close-crop of an American flag painted on newsprint,” says Jim O’Sullivan, White House correspondent for National Journal.

CHRISTIE-FIED

The drumbeat continues. While he may vex conservatives convinced he’s quite cozy with the Obama White House, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continues to be a Republican hybrid who draws support from a prism of demographics in his home state.

Three-fourths of all New Jersey voters approve of the job Mr. Christie is doing, says a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. He is now tied with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as having the highest job approval of any governor in states surveyed by the academic pollster.

Mr. Christie’s approval is 93 percent among Republicans, 56 percent among Democrats and 78 percent among independents.

Sixty-eight percent overall say he also deserves re-election while 79 percent say he “was right” to criticize congressional Republicans for delaying a vote on Superstorm Sandy relief. Seven of 10 Republicans agree with that.

“‘Give ‘em hell, Chris,’ say New Jersey voters about Gov. Christopher Christie’s attack on House Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans when they delayed the vote,” observes poll director Maurice Carroll. “Overwhelming support for their Jersey guy gov from every group in every corner of the state translates into a sky-high approval rating.”

Mr. Christie’s re-election, he adds, “doesn’t look like a problem.”

POLL DU JOUR

• 92 percent of global investors say it’s “unlikely” that the United States will default on its debt.

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