We seem to get some variation on this story every day, to the point that I don’t bother posting most of them. But here’s today’s:
Former New Jersey governor Tom Kean, who has known Chris Christie since he was a teenager and remains an informal adviser, tells National Review Online that the governor is “very seriously” considering a presidential bid.
“It’s real,” Kean says. “He’s giving it a lot of thought. I think the odds are a lot better now than they were a couple weeks ago.”
Christie remains undecided, Kean says, but is listening closely to pleas from party leaders. The chance for a “Jersey guy” to rise, Kean says, is not something Christie has sought. But now, with the field up for grabs, he is actively mulling a late entry.
This contradicts the story from, er, earlier today, in which Christie’s aides said no still means no, he isn’t running. Even though he’s heading out on an interesting fundraising tour.
Even if he runs, I doubt Christie can win the nomination despite the electorate’s unsatisfied hunger for a leader to emerge in the primary. His assaults on the NJ teachers unions are legendary, but apart from those he’s to the left of the party on a whole lot of issues. New Jersey’s unemployment rate is a notch above the national average, so there isn’t a jobs record for Christie to point to. So what does he run on — being slightly more liberal than Romney, but actually meaning it?
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