The Republicans will never nominate Governor Chris Christie for president. And the reason is not that he is a moderate. No, the reason is that he stabbed the last GOP nominee in the back.
Remember his keynote speech at last year's Republican convention. Christie was supposed to tell the American people what a splendid guy Mitt Romney is. Instead, Christie spoke almost entirely about Christie, as if the 2012 election was over and this was his big audition for 2016.
Then there was his performance during Hurricane Sandy, right before Election Day. Christie knew by then that Romney was definitely a goner, that President Obama would carry New Jersey big, and so he effusively embraced Obama. Any chance Romney might have had to win was put away by Christie who helped the Democratic president come across as a leader beyond politics and Romney as a mere politician who was too insignificant to bother mentioning (let alone invite to New Jersey to view the hurricane damage with Christie, as Obama did).
None of this bothered me then and it doesn't bother me now. I am an Obama man and I practically kissed Christie's image on my television screen for doing his part for my candidate.
Somehow I don't think Republicans see it that way. They know that he helped do in their nominee to advance himself.
I think the reason so many media pundits are so high on Christie's chances right now is because they are Democrats. They recall with pleasure Christie's efforts for himself (and Obama) last year.
Let me help them understand why they are wrong about Christie and his chances. He is the Republican Joe Lieberman. Like Christie, Lieberman did what he could to defeat our nominee in 2008, President Obama. A supposed moderate like Christie, he did everything he could to confer the moderate mantle on Senator John McCain, the GOP nominee. His presence at McCain's side (like Christie's at Obama's side) was designed to show independents that McCain was no mere Republican: he was America's candidate.
And we Democrats have despised Joe Lieberman ever since, so much so that he was forced into retirement.
Why do we think Republicans feel any differently about Christie? Because they want to win?
That is absurd. We are not talking about Generals Eisenhower or Colin Powell. Hardly. Christie is just another politician who will be ripped up in primaries just like every other candidate. Even Rudy Giuliani, the hero of 9/11, discovered that his national halo did not do the New York moderate much good among GOP primary voters when he ran for president.
And even if Republicans thought he would win, they still won't vote for him in the primaries. Again, he's like Joe Lieberman. The party base would rather lose than win with someone they view as Benedict Arnold.
Chris Christie is going nowhere.