TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will not seek the Republican nomination for president, disappointing some party stalwarts who worry that other candidates are too weak to unseat U.S. President Barack Obama.
Party leaders in recent weeks lobbied Christie to reconsider his oft-repeated position that he would not be a candidate. He told a news conference Tuesday that despite the appeals, he would not enter the 2012 contest, saying "now is not my time."
His decision means that three months before voting is set to begin, the Republican race remains focused on two men -- former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Those pushing Christie are disenchanted with front-runners Romney, viewed as uninspiring, and Perry, seen as unprepared for the national political scene.
Many party elders don't see them ousting Obama despite the president's steep decline in the polls and a voting public deeply distressed over his handling of the wobbly economy.
Romney, who also ran in 2008, normally would be a shoo-in as the next Republican in line for nomination to the top job. But he has failed to catch fire with many in the party establishment and is seen as too liberal for the small-government, low-tax tea party wing of the party. Beyond that there are questions among the political elite about whether a Mormon can win the White House.
Perry, who shot to the top of the Republican pack within weeks of announcing his candidacy in August, has turned in poor debate performances recently and is seen by many in the party as not ready for the national political stage. He's lost points with ultraconservatives for his stance on immigration and his attempt to require girls in Texas to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted malady that can cause cervical cancer.
Christie, 49, the former U.S. attorney for New Jersey, has become a darling of conservatives. He got elected in a Democratic state, cut the budget, capped property tax hikes and has taken on public employee unions.
Given what is seen as the thin support for both Romney and Perry among the mainstream of the Republican Party, Christie has been sought after repeatedly and has just as repeatedly said he does not feel ready for a run.
But big money interests -- those who could make campaign funding plentiful -- have upped the pressure on Christie in recent days and his camp has suggested a response this week.
At the swearing-in ceremony of a superior court judge in Patterson, New Jersey, Christie remained coy Monday night, joking about coming to the ceremony "a little preoccupied."
On Tuesday, Christie said at the New Jersey statehouse: "I believe in my heart this is where I belong."
Close advisers to Christie told friends that they ultimately didn't think a run made sense in part because it would likely have been too late to set up the needed infrastructure in Iowa, according to a person who spoke directly to those advisers.
The governor's advisers said Christie was seriously looking at a run in 2016, and he refused to rule out the prospect of a future run.
A "yes" this late in the current contest would leave Christie with only about three months before the first Republican caucuses in Iowa shortly after the New Year. He would then, in very short order, need to build organizations in New Hampshire, which holds the first state primary, and South Carolina with the first-in-the-South primary on Jan. 21. The party there moved up the state vote after Florida -- contrary to party rules -- moved its contest to Jan. 31.
He would have had an uphill battle, even this year.
He favours some restrictions on gun rights, as well as civil unions for gay couples. He now opposes abortion, but described himself as "pro-choice" at the beginning of his political career.
Such positions put him fundamentally at odds with the party's conservative base in a political atmosphere where ideological purity is a key test of acceptability.
"At the 30,000-foot level he looks good. But he's not being vetted as a presidential candidate yet," said U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta of New Hampshire.
