Chris Christie may not be running for president, but the owners of “Christie” website domain names hope that changes some day.
The roster of reserved “Christie for President” URLs is long and includes Christie2016.com (and .net and .org), ChrisChristie2016.com (and .net and .org), ChristieforPresident.com (and .net and .org), ChrisChristieforPresident.com (and .net and .org) AmericansForChristie.com (and Americans4Christie.com), 2016Christie.com, 2016ChrisChristie.com and VoteforChristie.
Most of the domain names are merely “parked,” meaning they don’t direct visitors to an actual pro-Christie website. Rather, they have just been purchased and are laying low until there’s a reason to spawn a substantive website — or to sell the domain to someone who’s interested.
The one exception is ChristieforPresident.com, which hasn’t been updated to reflect Christie’s final decision not to run for president and reads: “Welcome! You’re among the first to visit a new political site. In the months ahead, these pages will blossom as voters recommend their favorite internet links to information, discussion, and videos about Chris Christie. Governor Christie is a possible presidential candidate in 2012: he could become America’s next President!” (The domain is registered to “Merlyn’s Pen, Inc.” according to WhoIs.com)
Both in their purchases and their politics, the owners of these domain names make it clear that they are eager for a Christie run, some day.
Clifford Khouri runs a children’s entertainment company in Ohio and owns ChristieforPresident.net. He purchased the domain name soon after Christie became governor of New Jersey and has no plans of letting it go, despite Christie’s Monday announcement that he’s passing on a White House run.
“I didn’t do it because I thought I’d make a lot of money,” Khouri said. “I did it as a novelty, just to prove that my instincts were correct.” He won’t rule out, however, the possibility of selling it for a profit at some point down the line. “I will renew it until he’s no longer a possible candidate.”
“If this guy truly is for real and does what he says than this will be the first time in my lifetime that I would actually go and volunteer and work for somebody’s campaign,” Khouri said.
Floyd Brown owns AmericansForChristie.com and Americans4Christie.com and is more of a regular in the world of politics. He co-founded Citizens United in 1988 and has become known for his political consulting, strategies and ads, including the infamous “Willie Horton” ad that ran during the race between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis.
Brown said he purchased the websites “probably six to 10 months ago.”
“I, like a lot of people, have been impressed with the job that Gov. Christie has done in New Jersey and think that someday he might make a great president. And when that window opens up, we want to do whatever we can to organize people online to help that effort.”
Brown plans on hanging on to the websites for a potential Christie run down the line but doesn’t plan on simply selling it off one day to make some cash. “I am sure they have their own website that they would have used,” he said. “I’m sure they wouldn’t have wanted this one. If they had wanted it, I probably would have just given it to them.”
One domain owner, Ken Meyer of Long Beach, Calif., seems to actually be regretting his purchase, telling POLITICO in an email: “I acquired that URL thinking, in my ignorance, that Christie was THE conservative that I was interested in promoting. Thank God he elected to not stand for election. For 2-3 weeks I have been supporting and talking to friends about Herman Cain. … I believe he’s the only candidate so qualified.”
