But Christie pointed to one new poll, which showed his support in New Hampshire at 8 percent, edging out Bush at 7 percent.

“Our numbers in New Hampshire have quadrupled. We’re now ahead of Jeb Bush,” he said. “Let me guarantee you: Marco Rubio is next! And we’ll have some fun with my old friend The Donald.”

After 45 days in the Granite State, here was Christie’s sign of life. Here was the proof, thin as it was, that hard work and grit and retail politicking can still pay off.

“So what we need to do now is not let up. We need to double down,” Christie said. “That’s the way I always run campaigns: The minute you see an opening, the minute you see a little daylight — and the last two weeks, that’s what we’ve seen — you run twice as hard to that daylight.”

That evening, in our interview, he explained what that sliver of light had been for him.

“It was the [third] debate,” he said. “The reaction to the debate was really strong this time. And so, I felt like, OK, this is an opportunity for me now to double down and work even harder and to push the things that I think really need to be pushed.”