Chris Christie's Hail Mary Presidential Campaign

When Chris Christie launches his presidential campaign Tuesday, it won’t look anything like the one he once envisioned. Gone is the idea of an expansive, state-by-state primary election strategy. Iowa, despite the early visits and Christie’s cultivation of a relationship with Gov. Terry Branstad, is probably out the window, too. And forget about the prospect of a cash-flush campaign: the New Jersey governor is now expected to raise just a fraction of what his top opponents will rake in.

In a sign of how far Christie’s fortunes have fallen, he spent part of this weekend personally calling around to home state Republican legislators to nail down their support for his now long-shot presidential bid.

In place of the original plan — the one before the governor was battered by Bridgegate and the bottom fell out of his poll numbers — is a bank-shot strategy, a narrowly tailored approach that leaves Christie with little room for error.