“Every other candidate is showing up here, and people are coming to me like, ‘What’s going on?'” said South Carolina State Rep. Phyllis Henderson, who just a few months ago was preparing to serve as a key Christie point person in the early primary state. “And I really don’t know what they are doing here. I haven’t had any indication that they are planning to visit or what the plan is. I haven’t really talked to them in a while.”…

Christie’s team, aware they can no longer rely on the establishment forces that were propping him before last year’s Bridgegate fiasco, is hoping that his personal charisma and Jersey-tested ability to engage with voters in unscripted settings will produce a similar outcome.

“John McCain was left for dead in 2007 and 2008, and look what happened,” said Bill Greiner, a New Hampshire businessman and Christie supporter. “Gov. Christie is very similar to McCain. He has a willingness to tell you things whether you like it or not. He will do the things you need to do to win here, in small groups, in town halls, on the grass-roots level.”