Reacting to a Zogby poll from earlier this month that sees him besting Obama 43-40 in a hypothetical 2012 match-up, New Jersey governor Chris Christie says he’s still not running.
“The president can rest easy because the only guy who beats him in that poll isn’t running,” Christie told Fox News Sunday.
That’s not news, of course, Christie issues one of these denials a day, as pundits haven’t been able to think of anything else to ask him. But I did like his explanation of why he’s not running:
“I have a commitment to my state,” he said, adding that he’d only been governor for a year and New Jersey’s problems still need fixing.
“You have to believe in your heart that you’re personally ready to be president and I’m not there,” Christie said. “I am not arrogant enough to believe that after one year as governor … that I am ready to be president of the United States.”
“So I’m not going to run,” the governor said.
“Enough” is the key word here. Christie is a little bit arrogant — and I like that. You have to be to stand up to the public sector unions. But he knows that a year in a statewide office does not a presidential pedigree make. That’s refreshing.