Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's presidential campaign recently made a pitch to his donors, touting his ability to remain in the race for the Republican presidential primary and positioning him as the only GOP nominee taking front-runner Donald Trump head on.
The 38-page donor presentation presented to the American Opportunity Alliance titled, "Christie, Because The Truth Matters," calls Christie "the best steward of donors' contributions" due to a "lean, responsible operation" that "keeps the burn rate low."
Christie has $3.9 million cash on hand, according to the memo, below every other non-Trump opponent save for Vivek Ramaswamy's $3.8 million. However, Christie is spending just $15,800 daily, far below every other Tier 2 candidate. Mike Pence has since dropped out of the race since the presentation was put together.
The confidential memo was unearthed by Politico on Wednesday and the campaign has since confirmed that it made the presentation to the AOA.
The campaign's main pitch to donors is that despite Christie's paltry 2.9% support for the GOP nomination, according to FiveThirtyEight's current polling average, his "spartan" and "nimble" campaign positions him well for the long haul. The campaign says Christie has resources that equate to 247 days of "runway," far outpacing the other non-Trump candidates. Nikki Haley is the closest with 220 days of runway, according to the presentation.
Then, "the goal is to outlast" the other candidates not named Trump to be there at the end, mano a mano against the former president, according to the campaign.
"While every other candidate is afraid to take on Trump, only Christie recognizes you must confront the frontrunner to win," read one slide. "The only path is through Trump."
"While every other candidate is running for second place (or a spot in Trump's cabinet), Christie is running to win by drawing a clear contrast," read another.
The campaign is targeting the Republican undecideds, citing a poll saying that 46% of primary voters are "still open" to a candidate other than Trump.
"Strategy is simple. Keep the burn rate low, keep the fire focused on Trump, and make it a two man race going into Super Tuesday," Christie adviser Doug Mayer told Politico.