Christie opts out of 2012 presidential race (Reuters)

TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dashed hopes on Tuesday that he might make a late leap into the 2012 Republican presidential race in a move that sets up a battle between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

Christie's 45-minute news conference to say that "now is not my time" gave voters a taste of what they will miss in not having him on the campaign trail, a straight-talking politician so comfortable in his own skin he could laugh about news coverage of his ample waistline.

His exit will likely benefit former Massachusetts Governor Romney in the fight for moderate Republicans' support and leaves the Republican field largely set, as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is showing no signs of diving in.

Romney, chased from the front-runner position by Texas Governor Perry weeks ago, has now regained the lead after Perry's poor debate performances, as Republicans consider who is the more electable candidate in the general election contest against Democratic President Barack Obama in November 2012.

The field includes players from across America's conservative political spectrum: Moderates Romney and former U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, and right-leaning Perry, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.

The fight will now intensify as Republicans look to the first U.S. nominating contest, the Iowa caucuses, coming up in a mere three months, quickly followed by the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.

A senior Romney adviser said the Christie decision removed all doubt as to who will be in the field after a series of trial balloons from Christie, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump and Mitch Daniels -- who all were seen as alternatives to Romney.

"The waiting for 'Superman' is over," he said. "It won't change what we're doing. We've lived through President Palin, President Huckabee, President Trump and President Daniels.' We've survived 'em all."

"The Republican field is now set," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.

Exiting stage right on Tuesday was Christie, 49, the no-nonsense governor who repeatedly said no to a run but felt compelled to reconsider based on a flood of entreaties from supporters from Nancy Reagan to a Nebraska farmer.

'YOU'RE STUCK WITH ME'

"I'm doing a job that I love in the state I grew up in," said Christie.

"In the end, what I always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today -- now is not my time."

"New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me," he said, adding he has "unfinished business" as governor.

Christie left the door open to running in 2016 but shrugged off a question on whether he would consider being the 2012 vice presidential nominee, saying he did not believe "my personality is best suited to being number two."

Christie would have immediately energized a field that lacks firepower and that many party faithful are unenthusiastic about. Large undecided campaign donors may now be willing to back some of the established candidates.

Asked about the crop of candidates and which one he favors, Christie said, "I'm not prepared to make any endorsement today."

Huntsman attempted to cash in on Christie's departure, with campaign manager Matt David saying Republicans need "a standard bearer who is willing to tell the truth to the American people, offer serious solutions, and have a record to back it up."

"Governor Huntsman is the only candidate in the field who fits that description," he said.

Christie dismissed talk he was only courted because the Republican field was weak. "I don't think it says anything in particular about the field. I like to think it says something about me. It wasn't my charm and good looks -- I think it was the accomplishments that we have in New Jersey."

While not impossible, it would have been a difficult challenge for Christie to raise money, enlist activists and build a nationwide team with only 90 days until the voting begins.

Had Christie run and won the nomination, it would have set up a contest between him and Obama, both populists who cast themselves as honest brokers who can move toward the middle to get things done.

Christie, a large man who struggles with his weight and was briefly hospitalized this summer after having trouble breathing, was asked if jokes about his obesity from late-night comedians had upset him.

"It's not a news flash to me that I am overweight," Christie said. "It is not something that bothers me, I am not self-conscious about it, I am self-aware."

But, he said, talk by pundits that his obesity was a sign of his personal lack of discipline was "ignorant" and only advanced stereotypes.

(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon, writing by Mark Egan and Steve Holland, editing by Philip Barbara and Todd Eastham)

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Chris Christie sources say he still may run (The Christian Science Monitor)

Oh, dear. After issuing all but Shermanesque statements about not running for president – “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected,” as Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman put it back in 1884 – it looks like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie still may enter the rocky race for the Republican nomination.

That, at least, is what “several people close to the governor with knowledge of his thinking” tell the Associated Press.

Christie reportedly is being urged by senior establishment Republicans (including George H.W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, and Nancy Reagan) who see him as the best bet to beat President Obama in 2012. Former New York governor George Pataki has just endorsed him.

The Monitor's Weekly News Quiz for Sept. 25-30, 2011

“He’s definitely our strongest candidate in November,” US Rep. Peter King (R) of New York told the New York Post. “He’s the closest we have to putting together the old Reagan Democratic coalition.” Of course, no one close to Christie says anything definitive on the record. Who’d want to get out front of a man of Christie’s Falstaffian heft?

Speaking of which, columnists (including the Monitor’s) have felt free in recent days to comment on Christie’s ample (and perhaps unhealthy) girth as a factor in whether he’s qualified to be president. Christie himself has spoken of his weight problem.

But therea€?s been pushback to that line of thinking.

Writing in New York magazine (under the headline “Chris Christie Is Fat. So What?”) Jonathan Chait argues that “the American overclass prizes thinness to a degree that is actually unhealthy, and the disgust privileged Americans feel toward fat people, who are more likely to be poor and middle-class, dresses itself up as medical advice.”

“Why does his weight matter at all?” Chait asks. “The only real reasoning I see here is that American elites view obesity with disgust, and they’re repulsed at the notion that a very fat guy could rise to a position of symbolic leadership. It’s not a very attractive sentiment.”

Believe it or not, some see the issue as one of civil rights. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (whose slogan is “We come in all sizes”), for example.

Peggy Howell, the organization’s public relations director, is quoted as saying, "I see it as a tactic to try and take attention away from his accomplishments and instead focus on his body size.”

"Do people have a bias against President Obama because he smokes?” she asks. “Why should there be any difference in supporting a leader who smokes cigarettes or a leader who has a little extra weight on his body? Neither are perceived to be healthy choices."

On the New York Daily News opinion page, David Swerdlick even suggests that Christie’s heftiness is a “winning trait” for many Americans.

“It's precisely because of Christie's husky stature – combined with his blunt-talking, Jersey-guy attitude – that makes him such an appealing candidate to those in the GOP who have been begging him to get in the race,” he writes. “Why? His size, style and every-guy persona are the perfect contrast to President Obama. Where Obama is slim, Christie is beefy. Obama is reflective and Christie shoots from the hip.”

No, it won’t be Christie’s weight but his less-than-tea-party background that could make it hard for him to win the GOP nomination.

Dan Amira, who writes on politics for New York magazine, has a recent article titled “Five Things Conservative Voters Would Hate About Chris Christie.”Among them:

He’s said there needs to be “a clear path to citizenship” for immigrants (what hardliners call “amnesty”).

He’s for “common sense” guns laws “to make sure that we don't have an abundance of guns out there” – the kind of position that makes National Rifle Association members double-bolt their gun cabinets.

He’s said that "climate change is real" and "human activity plays a role in these changes." (Among the declared GOP candidates, only former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has not waffled on or denied global warming.)

New Jersey under Christie’s leadership is participating in the Race to the Top federal education program, and he’s called Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan “a great ally to try to reform education for kids across America … an extraordinary leader on this issue.” (Most of the declared GOP candidates would can Race to the Top.)

While most conservatives were decrying plans for an Islamic mosque and cultural center near 9/11’s ground zero, Christie said both supporters and critics were using it as a political football.

So if Christie does get into the race, it won’t be his physical size but the nature and dimension of his record that tips the political scale.

The Monitor's Weekly News Quiz for Sept. 25-30, 2011

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