The Devil and Mr. Christie

UNTIL THIS MORNING, I held a grudging respect for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. On levels too numerous to count, the fat man is not my cup of tea politically. But I admired his obstinate refusal to be a party to the three-ring circus that is the GOP presidential race. I liked his above-the-fray approach to public office: Maximally exploit the vagaries of politics, yes, but don't let it consume your soul (see Perry, McCain, Palin, etc). And above all, to thine own self be true. Some six months ago, Christie boldly declared, "I am not ready to be president." Such an admission could only come from a helluva actor with a Ph.D in Cynicism -- or a man of innate integrity. I chose to believe the latter. Then I read this in the NY Times: "Chris Christie’s political advisers are working to determine whether they could move fast enough to set up effective political operations in Iowa and New Hampshire in the wake of a relentless courtship aimed at persuading Mr. Christie ... to plunge into the race for the Republican presidential nomination." Um, what? That sound you hear could be the cracking halo I placed above the governor's head. I still doubt that Christie will run. Too much of this flies in the face of common sense. Besides being a reality-based rationalist, Christie is a political moderate (more or less) and certainly out of step with the Tea Party GOP. You do the math. Moreover, Christie, who's only 49, has plenty of time to pursue the presidency post-Obama. And yet, the governor has seemingly left the door ajar. As much as I hate to quote evangelist Billy Sunday, the bible-thumping, pro-Prohibition preacher presaged this moment when he said, "Temptation is the devil looking through the keyhole. Yielding is opening the door and inviting him in." If I were Christie, I'd pour myself a large whiskey and ponder those words.