--- title: New Hampshire Primary: Chris Christie Banks on Small Events description: “Are you going to come hug the bartender?” canonical: https://time.com/4214087/new-hampshire-primary-chris-christie-events/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-09T17:39:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:24.764Z article:section: Politics og:title: Christie Banking on Small Events on Primary Day og:description: “Are you going to come hug the bartender?” og:url: https://time.com/4214087/new-hampshire-primary-chris-christie-events/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta29ada936fd696dd/69887cc50a4a2231a09c84ad/chris-christie-new-hampshire.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie exits his SUV outside the polling place at Webster School February 9, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Christie Banking on Small Events on Primary Day twitter:description: “Are you going to come hug the bartender?” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta29ada936fd696dd/69887cc50a4a2231a09c84ad/chris-christie-new-hampshire.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Christie Banking on Small Events on Primary Day > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson / Derry, N.H.](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Derry, N.H. Feb 9, 2016 5:39 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie exits his SUV outside the polling place at Webster School February 9, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie exits his SUV outside the polling place at Webster School February 9, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Scott Eisen—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson / Derry, N.H.](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson / Derry, N.H. Feb 9, 2016 5:39 PM UTC Chris Christie knows how to work a room. The New Jersey Governor was met with cheers and raised glasses of beer when he entered T-Bones Great American Eatery at lunchtime in Derry, New Hampshire, on Tuesday. “Go Chris!” someone yelled. “You got it,” he responded with a point. “Are you going to come hug the bartender?” Angela Normyle called out from her post. “I’m coming behind the bar and hugging the bartender, alright?” Christie called back from the middle of the media scrum. **Read More:** [_Stealth Christie Group Attacks Rubio in New Hampshire’s 11th Hour_](http://time.com/4214038/new-hampshire-chris-christie-marco-rubio-campaign-ads/) Christie spent about 20 minutes circling the large bar in the center of the room, alternating between talking to voters and the media. With journalists and voters alike, Christie was quick to point to his strong performance against Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in Saturday night’s debate as evidence of his leadership. “I’m going to be the guy to take out Hillary, you saw that Saturday night,” he said to one voter. “I think Senator Rubio proved who he is and I proved who I am,” he said to the press. And later, when asked if he thought it would give him a bump in the primary: “We’ll see if I gained anything tonight.” Christie is at 5.8% in New Hampshire according to a Real Clear Politics poll average, but he assured voters at his campaign headquarters Tuesday morning that he “can’t imagine a scenario tonight under which I wouldn’t be on the plane to South Carolina tomorrow morning.” **Read More:** [_Why the Christie Show Is Second Only to Trump_](http://time.com/4201585/chris-christie-donald-trump-republican-iowa/) At each table or barstool in T-Bones, Christie asked the patron if he or she had any questions for him as he snapped pictures and asked about their food. “\[He\] takes his time with most people,” Andrew Groleau, 21, said of Christie. “It’s a good thing to do. Most people don’t do that.” Groleau said he’d already cast his vote for Christie this morning. When Christie eventually made good on his promise to Normyle and made it behind the bar, he gave her a big hug. “Are they tipping you alright?” he joked. “Do I need to speak to any of them?” Normyle, 34, said she was excited to meet Christie because of the “celebrity thing” but is still torn about who to vote for tonight. She’s deciding between Christie, Donald Trump and Rubio. “This might have swayed it though,” she said. “You never know.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4214087/new-hampshire-primary-chris-christie-events/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4214087/new-hampshire-primary-chris-christie-events/"},"headline":"Christie Banking on Small Events on Primary Day","datePublished":"2016-02-09T17:39:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:48:24.764Z","description":"“Are you going to come hug the bartender?”","url":"https://time.com/4214087/new-hampshire-primary-chris-christie-events/","keywords":["Chris Christie","2016 Election","new hampshire","South Carolina"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta29ada936fd696dd/69887cc50a4a2231a09c84ad/chris-christie-new-hampshire.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson / Derry, N.H."}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta29ada936fd696dd/69887cc50a4a2231a09c84ad/chris-christie-new-hampshire.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie exits his SUV outside the polling place at Webster School February 9, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire.","caption":"Republican presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie exits his SUV outside the polling place at Webster School February 9, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire.","creditText":"Scott Eisen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/chris-christie/","name":"Chris Christie"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4214087/new-hampshire-primary-chris-christie-events/","name":"Christie Banking on Small Events on Primary Day"}}]}] ```