As Gov. Chris Christie makes the biggest announcement of his career today, he stares down a very uncertain and adverse political situation.

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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Heading into the 2012 election cycle, Christie was courted as the darling of the Republican party with broad support amongst the party.

Just a few years later, though, the bloom is off the rose as he faces a much more daunting task to secure the 2016 GOP nomination.

Christie's problems actually start back home in New Jersey. A recent poll showed his lowest approval (30 percent) and highest disapproval numbers (55 percent) since becoming New Jersey's governor.

When he officially becomes the Republican's 14th candidate today, he will have to contend with the deepest GOP field in some time, perhaps ever.

Last week's NBC/WBJ poll had 55 percent of GOP voters saying they could not see themselves voting for Christie.

A Huffington Post GOP survey, which factors in 104 polls, currently has Christie ranked ninth among declared and potential candidates. He has just 3.3 percent of support, according to those figures.

A similar poll from RealClearPolitics also put him in ninth nationally with four percent of support.

When you combine less-than-stellar fundraising to the already weak poll numbers, it has forced Team Christie to focus on New Hampshire for a good showing to build momentum.

Christie has spent more time in the state that holds the first-in-the-nation primary besides former Gov. George Pataki (R-NY). He is showing better in the Granite State than others, but still finds himself in sixth place with five percent. Jeb Bush currently leads New Hampshire with 14 percent, while Donald Trump sits in second at 11 percent.

The latest average of Iowa polls ranks Christie in tenth place with four percent of support.

Christie places ninth in the current snapshot of South Carolina polls with 5.7 percent.

Despite the negative wave of numbers and lingering stench of Bridgegate, his advisers remain confident in Christie's ability to out-talk the rival candidates and sell himself to the American people.

That strategy has started in New Hampshire and will continue following today's announcement with a full slate of campaign events over the holiday weekend.

Christie will have to keep himself in the top-ten threshold of candidates to qualify for the first Republican debate, which is being held in August.

Today, he gets the national stage to introduce himself and where he came from to the country with the 2016 campaign kickoff at Livingston High School.

 

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