Back in 2009, when Chris Christie was running for governor of New Jersey, he captured the heart of the state. He was everything his predecessors weren’t. He was loud, brash, and made no apologies. While politicians like Jon Corzine were standard, polished politicians, Christie was different. He looked, talked, and acted like a guy from New Jersey. He reminded the people of this state of ourselves. People on both sides of the aisle liked him, and even though New Jersey is a blue state, he still managed to beat his predecessor, a democrat and an incumbent, and win the governorship.

In the time since Christie took office, the entire public perception of him has changed. He went from being the beloved governor who tells it like it is to having the lowest approval rating of any governor in the country, with only 29% of people viewing him favorably. It is not just because his policies were terrible, but also because his persona, which had earned him the office, became noticeably fake. He was also known to regularly be rude to reporters and people at town hall appearances. The longer he was in the public eye, the more he gradually eroded his own image. And of course there was the Bridge Gate scandal Even if he wasn’t directly involved in that, the fact that people in his top circle were involved speaks negatively towards his character.

And then there was his god awful presidential run. It is well known that most politicians are fake and polished. They say things that they were told would boost their numbers, and try and pass these things off as being genuine as opposed to calculated. So it is not the fact that everything that came out of Christie’s mouth was calculated and rehearsed that is the problem, since that was true of pretty much all of the candidates.

The problem was that he was so bad at hiding it. Every time he opened his mouth he found a way to work in a derogatory comment about Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, which came off as being incredibly forced. It was a desperate attempt to relate to the voters, and people saw through it. In my opinion that was the final nail in his coffin. It not only proved that he was just another fake, calculating politician, but it also proved that he’s not even good at being a fake, calculating politician.

New Jersey is frequently on the receiving end of jokes. People like to refer to it as a being merely a road between Philadelphia and New York City. It has also become a piece of collective wisdom that people from New Jersey are stupid. There is a long list of things that New Jersey gets made fun of for, and Governor Christie made himself the latest addition to that list. Hopefully his successor, whomever he/she may be, will be able save the state’s reputation.