New Jersey Governor Chris Christie officially ended months of relentless speculation about his presidential aspirations on Tuesday when he announced at a Trenton press conference that he would not be a Republican candidate for president in 2012.
Republican leaders ranging from Ohio Governor John Kasich to former first lady Nancy Reagan have encouraged Christie to enter the race. Christie acknowledged their influence in Tuesday’s press conference.
“I believe I had an obligation to seriously consider what people were urging me to do,” Christie said. “In the end, what I always felt was the right decision remains the right decision: Now is not my time. I have a commitment to New Jersey that I simply will not abandon.”
Despite continuous pressure from national donors and activists and equally continuous pushback from the governor, speculation hit a fever pitch over the past two weeks as Republicans expressed dissatisfaction with the current field.
Christie has unremittingly told reporters and national leaders that he had no intentions of entering the race. At a high-profile speech last week at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, Christie referred reporters to a Politico video of the governor repeatedly saying he would not run for the presidency. Additionally, Christie told the audience in a policy speech at the University on May 20 in McCosh Hall that he did not think he was ready to be President.
“I can’t allow flattery to get in the way with common sense and I can’t allow opportunity to trump my good judgment,” he told the crowd of 300 people.
In fewer than two years, the governor has acquired a national reputation as a blunt, straight-talking conservative capable of launching what many see as a competitive campaign against President Obama, according to leading Republican figures quoted in The Wall Street Journal. Following weak debate performances by Texas Governor Rick Perry and a conservative base still uneasy with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, top-level Republican donors and campaign operators have sought to convince Christie that he could backtrack on his persistent refusals and immediately enter the campaign as a front runner.
Yet last night, Christie explained, he came to the conclusion that leaving the governorship and New Jersey “never felt right.”
“I know not everyone agrees with my decision, but my loyalty to this state is what it is,” he said yesterday.