Expedient Political Attacks on Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie

I can't help but take the current political news and attacks on perceived 2016 presidential front-runners Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie with anything more than skeptical disdain.  I'm seeing the political spin war going on full blast between Democratic and Republican advocates on TV, almost three years before the election...and of course neither Clinton nor Christie has expressed whether they are even leaning toward running.  But public opinion polls are driving the media furor, first by revealing that if Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, then the only Republican with a chance to beat her is Christie...while with a Christie GOP nomination, Clinton comes out as the only one with a chance.  Therefore both sides see it as an imperative to ruin the credibility and consequently the political viability of their "opponent" by pushing anything that hints of criticism.  So former Defense Secretary General Robert Gates conveniently comes out now with a "tell-all" book that paints then-Secretary of State Clinton in an unfavorable light, while (New Jersey) Governor Christie is being depicted as something of a vindictive, hot-tempered dictator with the current "lane closure" scandal being pumped through the media.

The irony of all this is that there are elements within each party that dislike their own opinion poll leaders and would like to promote potential candidates more suitable to their ideological leanings.  As for me, I think I can handle either a Clinton or Christie presidency, individual drawbacks and party ideology notwithstanding.  Both of these seem to be capable leaders and interested in appealing to the political center, which just so happens to be where I see myself...