JERSEY BOY

10/4/11

Chris Christie announced today that he will not be running for president in 2012. By doing so, he increased my, and doubtless countless others’, respect for the man. He said he wouldn’t run and, instead of pulling a cutesy-pie Hamlet act, of the type to which we have become sickeningly accustomed, to draw attention to a campaign on which he intended to embark on all along, stuck by his decision not to run. Even more noble is the primary reason he gave for his reason not to run, to wit

"The deciding factor was that it did not feel right to me, in my gut, to leave (the job of governor of New Jersey) now, when the job isn't finished."

A politician actually wanting to do the job for which the taxpayers pay him rather than use it as a mere stepping stone to the next opportunity at more intense self-aggrandizement? The hell you say! See my 9/5/11 post WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK!

Given my realistic (Some mistakenly call it “cynical.”) attitude toward those who hold and seek public office, I was prepared to have Governor Christie go back on his earlier pronouncements, sincere or otherwise, and decide that he would indeed run for President in 2012. That Mr. Christie has failed to meet my expectations in this regard makes him even more honorable in my, and doubtless countless others’, opinion. Does this mean I will support him should he run in four or eight years down the line? Not yet; I’d have to take a hard look at his policies, especially his foreign policy, before I would support him for President. But at this stage at least, Governor Christie appears to be that most rare of species, a politician who says what he means and means what he says.

This also means that the Republican field is more or less set. While the prospect of a Herman Cain presidency excites yours truly (again, subject to a careful review of his foreign policy; it always pays to be leery of any Republican’s foreign policy, given most of the Party’s tendency to equate any close examination of the “defense” budget with treason), it is quite clear that, while anything could happen and I don’t like to make predictions, Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee. This, of course, comes as no surprise to my regular readers. See my 7/19/11 post MICHELE AND SARAH, MAKE ROOM FOR THE FAT LADY.

Should Mr. Romney win the nomination, and should Mr. Obama, as is highly likely but not certain (See my 9/16/11 post “I WILL NOT SEEK, NOR WILL I ACCEPT, THE NOMINATION OF MY PARTY…”), be his party’s nominee, Mr. Romney will face a president with maybe $1 billion, David Axelrod, and perhaps a very interesting and appealing running mate. The latter is grist for a later mill. But, for now, suffice to say this will be no cakewalk for the Republicans.