Chris Christie could be the real deal

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Updated: November 11, 2011 5:27PM

I’ve got a touch of fever — Chris Christie has got my political temperature rising. I’ll get over it soon enough, because I don’t think he will run for president.

I caught the C-SPAN broadcast of his speech at the Ronald Reagan Library the other night and his appeal is obvious and not just to Republicans who haven’t yet found a candidate they can enthusiastically embrace among the current field of contenders. His traits of independence, good humor and faith in American exceptionalism make him attractive to independent voters and “Reagan Democrats.”

Conservatives are constantly searching for another Ronald Reagan, but a politician like him comes along maybe once in a generation, if then. Still, Christie, at first blush, seems close to being the real deal.

He’s a man of principle, yet politically amiable enough to praise Democrats with whom he has been able to forge a working relationship as New Jersey governor. He doesn’t shrink from taking on entrenched power, challenging public employee unions as Reagan did in his showdown with the air traffic controllers. What’s more, Christie can espouse hard-line principles with a Reagan-like understanding of human differences and frailty, and do it without the hard edge of, say, a Rick Perry.

Yet, Christie could turn out to be one of those politicians who’s more appealing as a candidate in waiting than as an announced contender. Think former Sen. Fred Thompson, who seemed the ideal 2008 GOP presidential aspirant until he actually got into the contest. I don’t believe that would turn out to be true with Christie, but we still don’t know a lot about him and he hasn’t been tested on a national stage.

The cable commentariat seized on what it interpreted as Christie’s coy answers to a couple of questioners in the Reagan library audience urging him to run. I didn’t see coyness, only a generous and humble acknowledgment of the passion of those who want him to join the race.

So barring a surprise announcement — there’s still talk of Sarah Palin or Rudy Giuliani getting in — the GOP field is settled. A new Fox News poll found 63 percent of Republicans expressing some satisfaction with the lineup of contenders.

It’s still a long way to the winter’s first round of caucuses and primaries, but at the moment the political dynamics favor Mitt Romney.

The successful businessman, former Massachusetts governor and savior of the scandal-troubled 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics has done well in the candidate forums so far. He has maintained a laser focus on the jobs issue, he has come across as a credible president and he has come up with a plausible answer to the Romneycare/Obamacare issue that has bedeviled his candidacy.

Texas Gov. Perry has yet to prove he is electable and up to the job of president. Poor debate showings cost him sole possession of the front-runner status. Thanks to the Florida straw poll, Herman Cain vaulted into a statistical tie with Romney and Perry in the Fox poll. He comes across as a straight-talking, principled businessman. His 9-9-9 economic plan — a 9 percent income tax, 9 percent corporate tax and 9 percent national sales tax — is easy to understand, though I’ve yet to see an analysis of how it would fix the economy.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota had her moment in the sunshine with her Iowa straw poll victory. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul pf Texas once shot up in the polls on the basis of his purist brand of libertarianism. After a good debate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich hit double digits in the latest Fox poll. If I’m right that political winds favor Romney, what are Republican voters saying in continuing to boost one Romney challenger after another?

Conservatives question Romney’s allegiance to core principles, worry about his history of shifting positions and want to make one thing very clear to him: If he’s to be the GOP presidential nominee, he needs to understand that conservative values matter.