Late Returns: Chris Christie Seems Pretty Insistent That He's Not Running For President

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has been pretty adamant about his intention to absolutely, positively not run for president in 2012. But all of his prior demurrals ran headlong into the generic Beltway preview of his remarks at the American Enterprise Institute Thursday, which captured his big new shiny "D.C. rollout" and are typical of higher-office ambitions. So naturally, he had to shoot down speculation, again.

"Listen, I threatened to commit suicide, I did, I said, 'what can I do short of suicide to convince people I'm not running?'" Christie said. "Apparently, I actually have to commit suicide to convince people I'm not running."

[...]

Christie said it wouldn't make his wife happy either.

"My wife would kill me," he said. "There's certain things that you know just will not be accepted and I think that's on the list."

(Chances are that David Gregory would still stand over the remains of a murder-suicided Christie and ask him if he was running for president about 5,704 times.) [The Hill]
_______________

-- Here's another thing that Public Policy Polling felt was necessary to survey voters about: "In a hypothetical match-up" between President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, "Obama led by a slim four-point margin, 48% to 44%." This is important in the parallel universe where term limits do not apply. [TPMDC]

-- It's hard out here for a GOP senator with White House ambitions. [Politico]

-- 2012 is not just about the presidential race. It also has plenty of Senate contests to shock and/or terrify you. Alex Pareene raises the curtain on what's shaping up in Arizona. [War Room @ Salon]

-- Is he human, or is he dancer? Mitt Romney sits down with Killers frontman Brandon Flowers to "[court] the all-important glam rock vote" and figure out what that lyric is supposed to mean. [The Fix]

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Comments

[Matzview]

10:54 AM on 02/18/2011

Governor Christie: This obsession of yours to challenge Joey Chestnut in the upcoming hot dog eating championship sends a poor message to our children.

For the sake of your well being and future run for president, save this foolishness for Ann Coulter. She can afford to put on a few pounds.

[BassguyGG]

10:43 AM on 02/18/2011

Ann Coulter was on "The Last Word" last night with Lawrence O'Donnell and she was getting all gooey over her latest crush Chris Christie running for President. Personally I hope he does. The more time he spends stumping on the road, the less time he has to do damage in Trenton.

[marijam]

05:37 PM on 02/17/2011

One more thing, if you listen to Ann Coulter on this you are bound to be disappointed because she's wrong.

[marijam]

05:35 PM on 02/17/2011

To far right wing conservatives a message. I am an Independent voter and while I might consider a Republican for president, there is no way that I would vote for Christi. You are wrong when you think that he is the only one who could win against Obama.

[indjoe]

01:19 PM on 02/17/2011

It one lie after another from this bozo clown what a fake he will not run because he would
lose and he knows it . man what a fake.

[Petey131]

12:58 PM on 02/17/2011

"Running" or "Rolling?"

[Guscat]

12:48 PM on 02/17/2011

The WH just announced the President and First Lady have been invited by the Queen for a state visit and will stay in Buckingham Palace this May. It is difficult to imagine Christie and his wife representing the US in a similar visit.

[laynebartl]

01:11 PM on 02/17/2011

Really, I can't wait to see the Queen's reaction to their hostess gifts, most likely will be fried chicken and some watermelon. They are so very tasteful. And OH GOOD GOD, can’t even imagine what ridiculous costume Michelle will come up with. Try to imagine that.

[Guscat]

01:27 PM on 02/17/2011

Why would the hostess gift be watermelon and fried chicken? Please explain, I don't understand.

[kimbanyc]

03:48 PM on 02/17/2011

another proud r*cist teapottyrepublican't

[jerzygurl]

09:27 AM on 02/18/2011

Do you think this time the President can find something made in the USA as a gift of state? It was embarrassing that he chose an Ipod made in China to give the Queen on the last visit.

[TitaniumAvatar]

12:17 PM on 02/17/2011

He's not running...or dieting or doing exercise of any kind.

[VietVet67]

11:21 AM on 02/17/2011

Looks like CC needs help in NJ with his budget. We'll be glad to send Rick Perry his way to assist him.

[rgateman]

11:14 AM on 02/17/2011

Barbour belly-bumped him out of the ring!

[RickyPoo]

11:10 AM on 02/17/2011

This guy isn't running because he knows he would lose.

Obama polls better than he does in his home state of NJ.

And Christie will NEVER poll better than this in Jersey right now, before the effects of his disgusting cuts take place.


Some may be having fun with the fact that he is the Repub Flavor of the Moment, like "President" Ron Paul was in 2008, but he's not going anywhere. In fact, it will be daunting for him to get a second term in Jersey, much less run for national office.

And no one seems to know that better than he does, which is why he's unequivocally opting out of 2012.

[blacksmithn]

11:09 AM on 02/17/2011

From the look of him, he hasn't RUN anywhere since he was a child.

[truthglow]

11:53 AM on 02/17/2011

Faved. I'm already a fan. Too good.

[Ralph Perman]

12:04 PM on 02/17/2011

F&F for Awesomeness!

[kimbanyc]

11:05 AM on 02/17/2011

We know all too well, based upon failed Republican experiments of the 1990s, that privatization doesn’t save money and results in poor customer service.

Remember the problems under Gov. Christie Whitman with vehicle inspections and at motor vehicle agencies? Those debacles resulted in millions of wasted taxpayers dollars and long lines at the agencies.

Rather than learn from history, Gov. Chris Christie is pushing a plan to privatize toll collection along our highways.

Under this plan, dedicated hard working employees, many with more than 20 years of service, will be replaced. The alleged savings to the Turnpike Authority will come by eliminating the income of hundreds of middle class families.

The only guaranteed winners in the process are the corporations who will be awarded the contracts. They will reap millions of dollars in profits.

The unions representing the workers have proposed significant savings to Turnpike Authority commissioners. They understand that these are tough economic times. These workers are willing to take wage and benefit cuts to help the state make ends meet.

But as has become a common theme in this administration, the Authority has refused to negotiate in good faith and would rather blame the workers for its financial woes.

We urge the commissioners to return to the bargaining table and come up with a fair solution to this issue.

[kimbanyc]

11:01 AM on 02/17/2011

But again, is the governor truly interested in reform or sound bites?

Since he took office a bit more than a year ago, the governor has signed at least 17 Democratic property tax reform bills into law, including several he vocally supported, yet he continuously claims the Legislature has done little on the issue, except when he wants to portray a kinder, gentler image for a day and heaps praise on the Legislature. It’s hard to keep track.

How can the governor sign our bills then blast away? Only the governor can answer that question, but I’m sure he would rather avoid that subject.

After all, civil service reform is needed, but even if the governor signed the bill, it would not instantly lower property taxes.

Nothing can change the fact that this year's state aid and rebate cuts are already driving up property taxes while millionaires are getting tax breaks.

http://www.politickernj.com/44841/primer-real-chris-christie

[blueman00009]

10:55 AM on 02/17/2011

I saw some video last night on this guy and he is just plain huge. I didn't realize how big he is. Truly amazing. He needs to go on a major, major diet for the sake of his health. Wow.

[PatrickHenryNow]

10:57 AM on 02/17/2011

Have you seen him in HD ? My god when has this guy had his last physical ?

[inARCTICulate]

05:54 PM on 03/07/2011

I read he weighs close to 400 lbs.

[studmoose]

11:14 AM on 02/17/2011

He's just a typical  NJ   W I S E   G U Y

A Sopranos wannabe. An embarrassment to NJ and to the Italian Community.

If Corzine wasn't so bad, this guy would have never gotten in.

[truthglow]

11:55 AM on 02/17/2011

AMEN!!!!!