New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) closed the door more tightly on Monday on a run for president in 2012. Christie, while traveling in Iowa, a key presidential nominating state, said there was no way he’d run for president in two years.”I don’t know how else I can say it. No chance. No way. No how. Door’s closed,” Christie told reporters in Des Moines during a fundraiser for former Gov. Terry Branstad (R), who’s running again for that office.
“To be president of the United States you have to want it more than anything else in the world, and I don’t,” the New Jersey governor said, as reported by the Des Moines Register.
Christie, who was elected in the normally Democratic Garden State in 2009, has previously talked down the prospect of a run to challenge President Obama in 2012. But his continued efforts on behalf of other Republican candidates, national media appearances, lost weight and growing interest among grassroots conservatives who admire his blunt style have not tamped down speculation that Christie might run.
Still, Christie downplayed the optics of a visit to Iowa on behalf of a candidate, saying the only victory he sought was Branstad’s.
“I came here for free. And bearing no gifts,” he said. “My big reward from all this will be to see Terry Branstad win a resounding victory on Nov. 2.”
{The Hill/Matzav.com}
He’d make a good president.