The early reports this morning turned out to be right: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will not be seeking the Republican presidential nomination. As we've noted before, the media has repeatedly refused to take Christie's "no" for an answer. But this afternoon he delivered that "no" during a much-hyped press conference in New Jersey, which perhaps will finally put the speculation about whether he will run to rest (then again, knowing the media, perhaps not). Christie admitted that he'd reconsidered his position over the weekend after delivering a high-profile speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California but concluded, "Now is not my time. I have a commitment to New Jersey that I simply will not abandon." He said the pressure on him to enter the race reflected support for the work he'd done in New Jersey rather than a repudiation of the Republican field. 

Christie approached the press conference and the subsequent Q&A session with his usual humor and off-the-cuff manner. "New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me," he said at one point. He also didn't rule out a presidential bid in the future--perhaps in 2016 when he wouldn't be taking on an incumbent. "I have interest in being employed in the future and I’m not going to preclude any type of employment," he said.

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Uri Friedman