IMHO, Chris Christie is a typical NE "Republican".
About one step to the right of Michael Bloomberg, who also ran as a "Republican". (And about one step left of Mitt Romney...)
Which ain't much, and not nearly enough for me, or a lot of others.
I grew up in CT many years ago, so I have a little bit of NE cred. I still have friends and relatives who live there, and others who have moved away, for a variety of reasons.
As a national policy....as long as the "R" party continues to nominate "soft and squishy" RINOs like McCain/Romney/Christie/Huckabee/Jeb Bush and so on...a lot of voters will not turn out, and they will continue to lose elections.
Whether the "R" party is ready to learn this lesson once and for all, before this Country goes over the cliff, is a matter of ongoing discussion/dispute....