Heat Increases On Chris Christie To Enter GOP Race

In yet another sign of the deep dissatisfaction with the Republican presidential field, a group of wealthy New York area donors is leaning hard on Chris Christie to throw his hat into the ring.

The New Jersey governor has repeatedly said he is not interested in seeking the nomination and would have until the end of October to join the race, but the pressure on him was ramped up this week with the rollout of a $1.5 million television ad campaign praising him.

The New York Times reports that the donor group, which had its genesis when Christie was an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, is made up of some strange bedfellows, including Kenneth G. Langone, billionaire Home Depot founder and personal investment guru Charles R. Schwab, both moderates, and David H. Koch, the right-wing industrialist and Tea Party benefactor.

Christie’s appeal lies in his largely successful efforts to take on public employee unions in an effort to cut New Jersey’s budget deficit and the fact that unlike Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has stumbled in recent weeks, he is not a barnburner.

But Christie has some baggage of his own that would make securing the nomination anything but a sure thing:

* He is, in many respects, a RINO. He favors gun control, believes that global warming is real, has taken a moderate stance on immigration, and named a Muslim as a state court judge while condemning opponents of the so-called Ground Zero mosque in New York City.

* He has little experience governing and has stumbled badly in some respects since beating incumbent Governor Jon Corzine in 2009.

* He has serious health issues, including asthma which has led to several hospitalizations, and is morbidly obese.

My gut (no pun intended) tells me that Christie is nothing is not savvy, and he will let the opportunity go by. After all, there is always 2016.