^ Maybe Christie doesn't want to be President now. The times are ugly and it isn't going to get much better in the next 3 years regardless of who is President.

^ Maybe Christie doesn't want to be President now. The times are ugly and it isn't going to get much better in the next 3 years regardless of who is President.

 

I don't know why anyone would want to be POTUS right now.

I don't know why anyone would want to be POTUS right now.

I wondered the same thing in 2008 ...

I don't know why anyone would want to be POTUS right now.

 

I wondered the same thing in 2008 ...

I agree on both, and for that matter any other time.

If Christie has Oval Office ambitions, I don't see why he would choose to stay on the sidelines in 2012. Think about this:

 

* He gets the chance to strike while the iron is hot in 2012 (i.e. popularity & GOPers begging him to run).

* He couldn't ask for a weaker field of GOP candidates than this year. Assuming Obama is re-elected, his 2016 competition will consist of fellow up-and-comer Marco Rubio & perhaps a popular, establishment candidate in Jeb Bush ($$$$).

* Americans have consistently been saying they prefer a Republican over Obama when polled about "Generic Republican vs. Obama."

* He's running against an incumbent whose job performance is disapproved of by half of Americans.

 

I know I'm just a Joe Schmo, but it seems to me that Christie couldn't ask for better political conditions.

 

I think you're right, but if Christie is motivated by purely electoral reasons he still might want to hedge his bet for 2016. Simply put, it's always very, very difficult to beat an incumbent president - one who isn't going to endure a lengthy and grueling primary, one who has all the advantages of being in office, one who is going to be sitting on a huge pile of cash while you're running ads about Romney flip-flopping on health care. And that's all assuming the economy stays flat and doesn't begin showing signs of life which would throw out all of the current polls and change the political climate. If Obama wins, the 2016 field will be more formidable than this one, but Christie's to lose. With all of that said, I still agree with you. I think Christie's style is much more fitting for this election than a more neutral one and he'd be striking while the iron is hot, so to speak.

I pray you're wrong.

You and me both Doc.

I think you're right, but if Christie is motivated by purely electoral reasons he still might want to hedge his bet for 2016. Simply put, it's always very, very difficult to beat an incumbent president - one who isn't going to endure a lengthy and grueling primary, one who has all the advantages of being in office, one who is going to be sitting on a huge pile of cash while you're running ads about Romney flip-flopping on health care. And that's all assuming the economy stays flat and doesn't begin showing signs of life which would throw out all of the current polls and change the political climate. If Obama wins, the 2016 field will be more formidable than this one, but Christie's to lose. With all of that said, I still agree with you. I think Christie's style is much more fitting for this election than a more neutral one and he'd be striking while the iron is hot, so to speak.

 

Agreed, but if a Republican wins this election he can't run until 2020 and he won't win that one. If he wants to be President he's the frontrunner right now.

2008 - Toast of the town.

 

2011 - Toast of the town.

I think you're right, but if Christie is motivated by purely electoral reasons he still might want to hedge his bet for 2016. Simply put, it's always very, very difficult to beat an incumbent president - one who isn't going to endure a lengthy and grueling primary, one who has all the advantages of being in office, one who is going to be sitting on a huge pile of cash while you're running ads about Romney flip-flopping on health care. And that's all assuming the economy stays flat and doesn't begin showing signs of life which would throw out all of the current polls and change the political climate. If Obama wins, the 2016 field will be more formidable than this one, but Christie's to lose. With all of that said, I still agree with you. I think Christie's style is much more fitting for this election than a more neutral one and he'd be striking while the iron is hot, so to speak.

 

You make a good point about the incumbency of Obama & also the lack of a Democratic primary challenger & the stacks of cash in the treasure chest.

 

I think Christie jumping in at this point would bring to an immediate end the Romney campaign. I think there is a large sect of Republicans who have aligned with Mitt--perhaps in somewhat of a reluctant fashion--because they believe he has the greater chance of the current field at dethroning Obama. Though I personally have not (and will not) support Romney, he is the only current GOP candidate that stands any kind of chance. Christie changes that instantly & it would kill Romney's campaign. Rick Perry has no chance of beating Obama & look at how quickly he went to the front of the line.

 

But if Christie jumps in, I think that sends instant & much needed energy through the party & catapults him to the front. The only way he fails to get the nomination, should that happen, is if he says something stupid or off-the-cuff, because his style would be very appealing to both conservative and independent voters.