“He does have a lot of sympathy right now, even from people who do not like Chris Christie and under no circumstances would support him in a primary,” said Billy Simons, a tea party activist from Charleston, S.C.

Simons, who has questions about Christie’s role in the scandal and is no fan of the governor’s, said that many of his fellow activists think the media coverage has gone too far.

“Lots of people think it’s getting way too much play,” he said. Even from “people I’ve heard say [they] are not Chris Christie fans at all, there is some circling of the wagons.”…

“Those who don’t typically like him fell back into that position where, they’re looking at a conservative being targeted and comparing it to others on the Democratic side, and looking at it as a fairness issue,” said Trimble-Ray, who personally respects Christie and admires his handling of the traffic scandal. “Is it fair for Gov. Christie to be targeted in this manner, for this situation, when equal or greater issues are happening on the liberal side that aren’t getting attention? It’s more ‘us vs. them’ in that regard.”