It’s a bit early in the campaign season, but Politico has an article on polling that shows that Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are running quite closely in a potential 2016 presidential match-up in Iowa. They were both supported by 41 percent of voters in Iowa surveyed in the Quinnipiac poll.

The poll also compared Gov. Scott Walker, Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, and Christie. Interestingly, President Obama’s numbers among independents are in free-fall:

In a match-up with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Clinton was on top, 46 percent to 39 percent. Vice President Joe Biden trailed both Christie and Walker, 32 percent to 49 percent for Christie and 39 percent to 42 percent for Walker.

The poll also found that President Barack Obama’s disapproval rating was at 55 percent, and only 40 percent of voters approved of the job he is doing. That’s a five point increase in disapproval since a May poll, and one of Obama’s lowest approval ratings in any of the states Quinnipiac surveys, the polling institute said.

Obama’s disapproval was also high among independent voters, an important constituency in the heavily independent state. Voters who identified as independent disapproved of the job the president is doing 59 percent to 37 percent. That’s up 6 points from the 53 percent of independents who disapproved in May.

So there you have it Christie-haters: He’s already tied with the presumptive Democratic frontrunner in the first primary of the 2016 season. His broad appeal to independents could help the GOP pick up all those jaded folks who are turning on the president.

Get on board! It’s never too late to jump on the Christie bandwagon. If you do it now, you can poke fun at those who come late to the party.