Why Republicans should stop dreaming of Chris Christie

Dissatisfied with Rick Perry, many conservatives are hopelessly trying to draft New Jersey's governor. But let's face it — he's no messiah

The governor of New Jersey is named Christie, not Christ. This seems like a good thing to mention at the moment. For in the GOP's distress at Rick Perry's failure to capture America's awe like a suddenly unconcealed weapon, some Republicans are still hoping against hope that no matter how many refusals Christie issues, they can draft the tough-talking titan of Trenton to run for president.

What are they smoking?

That question should not be taken to mean that Christie is a bad governor, or that he mightn't be a good presidential candidate. But no matter how deservedly praised a speech he has just made at the Reagan Library, he simply does not have the stuff of a savior. It is to Christie's real credit that thus far, despite all the adulation now flooding over him, he seems to realize this.

Chris Christie simply does not have the stuff of a savior.

To begin with the most obvious point, the Garden State is not exactly blooming with economic health. According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, New Jersey's  unemployment rate is 9.4 percent — the worst in the mid-Atlantic region. That's also slightly worse than the national rate — and better than only 15 states, counting D.C.

Of course, it would make no more sense to lay these figures entirely at the feet of Christie than it makes sense to blame the national economy wholly on President Obama. And substantively speaking, some New Jersey job losses — in the form of cuts to the public sector — may actually reflect well on the governor. But where economies are concerned, voters have a persistent habit of laying absolute credit and blame where neither is due. In a campaign in which "jobs" is the only word that matters, jumping in as the governor of the 36th best employment state hardly seems like divine intervention.