Christie: N.J. And Me, Still Together

Chris Christie has a big announcement for New Jersey: "Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."

The governor told voters—and a Republican party waiting with bated breath—he won't be entering the Republican primary race for the presidency. And he didn't expect a bid to be vice president, saying he did not see himself as a "No. 2 kind of guy."

"The people sent me to Trenton to get a job done, and I'm just not ready to walk away," he said at a 1 p.m. press conference that followed weeks of heightened speculation he might be ready to enter the race, despite repeated denials in the past. He'd been silent on the issue for the last few days, leading to speculation he was ready to change his mind.

And Christie confirmed—he'd been thinking about it.

"When you have serious people from across the spectrum, not to mention from across the country, passionately calling on you," it's important to take their advice seriously, he said. "I will always be grateful for their confidence in me."

But the governor said now's not the time to run. He left the door open to running in the future: "I'm not going to preclude any job, whether president or working at NBC."

"It's never felt right ... to me in my gut to leave here when the job is not finished," he said.

Christie said his wife and children had supported the idea of him running, "if that's what I wanted to do."

"Mary Pat woke me up a few days ago at 6 o'clock in the morning and told me, 'If you want to go for it, go for it,'" he said.

The governor didn't resist an opportunity to take a swipe at President Obama, saying the president had "failed the leadership test." But he said it was too early for him to make any endorsement of any of the current GOP contenders.

He said other candidates did not make a presidential run appealing, saying that those who had lost described the experience as "a nightmare," while those who won agreed that it was "awful."

Christie said he had been amused by the attention he had received, including from comedians who made jokes about his weight. "It's fair game, they can make fun of it," Christie said, "provided it's funny." He said his son Andrew had even taken to showing him video clips of items he'd missed "So he's been grounded," Christie quipped.

The announcement came after a flurry of heightened media attention Tuesday morning, when Christie's office announced he'd be holding a press conference in Trenton, but didn't say what it would be able. Shortly after, GOP sources in Westfield, home of many of Gov. Chris Christie's top aides, told Patch the governor has decided against running for president. Several national news organizations, including the Washington Post, CNN and ABC-News, quoted insiders with the same message.

"I think it would be the right move for New Jersey if he decides not to run for president," Margaret Nordstrom, a Morris County freeholder and candidate for re-election this year, said a few hours ahead of the announcement. Christie once sat as a member of the freeholder board as well. "He's put the state on the right track. It's really, really important that he continues to do this work for New Jersey. I can't stress that enough."

Christie had been reconsidering his long-held stance that he would not run for president in recent days, following encouragement from Republican fundraisers and luminaries around the country.

But Christie had not taken steps to notify many of the rank-and-file Republicans who make up the party’s statewide organization in New Jersey and who expected advance warning of the governor entering the race. The state Republican party had also not taken steps to prepare for a presidential race by Christie, who has dominated the party organization since 2009.

“I am disappointed but I respect Governor Christie’s decision to decline to seek the Presidency at this time," Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Republican who represents the 11th District, said. "Anyone who has ever worked with the governor understands his strong leadership for New Jersey would have been good for America."

State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney said he's glad the matter is cleared up.

“Thankfully, we can now move ahead and focus on the real issues that are impacting the people of this state. Unemployment here is above the national average, while more people, particularly children, are living in poverty," he said. “We need focused leadership in New Jersey on the issues that are of the utmost importance to the middle class. Every moment of the governor's day needs to be focused on how we can get New Jerseyans back to work and how we can grow and aid our business community. I stand ready to work with this governor on doing just that.”

Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono was more overtly critical in her assessment

“The governor clearly understood that he cannot run for president when his own house isn't in order," ehe said. "Unemployment is 9.4 percent—higher than the national average.  Property taxes have increased since he took office. He has a budget deficit of almost $8 billion.  He's forced hikes in college tuition, increased commuting costs and cut women's healthcare. Not the best record on which to base a presidential campaign. “

Christie's announcement comes the same day as a new poll shows him in fourth place nationally in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, business executive Herman Cain and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The governor would have needed to decide to run within the next few days, because the deadline was approaching for him to file as a candidate in several key GOP primaries, including South Carolina and Florida. Both of those states moved their primaries up to January and New Hampshire and Iowa are expected to follow suit, leaving only three months of campaigning before the start of the actual delegate selection process.

If Christie had decided to run, he would not have had to step down as governor. His term in office does not expire until 2013, so if he lost the presidential race, he could still have run for re-election in New Jersey.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll in June predicted that if Christie entered the race, he'd be tied among GOP candidates with also-unannounced Sarah Palin, and eat into support for Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The poll said he'd still trail former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by a wide margin.

But that was many months ago—eons in political terms. It has been hard to predict exactly how a Christie entry would affect the race, but that didn't stop analysts, pundits and others from trying. The Huffington Post's Dan Collins predicted in a column Tuesday that a Christie campaign would mirror Rudy Giuliani's campaign four years ago—and lead to failure. The Wall Street Journal reported a pledge to Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Meg Whitman could make the very idea of a run especially unlikely.

Huffington Post also reported a Christie entry could radically reshape the GOP race, pushing second-tier candidates further down. But it notes a pundit class' favorite of the moment can soon see a reputation tarnished by the rigor of a campaign.

(Note: Patch is part of the Huffington-Post Media Group, under the ownership of AOL).

Tell us in the comments: Do you still think Christie will run for president? Should he? Tell us in the comments.