Christie says Romney could "convince" him to be running mate

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I doubt it, but, for what it's worth, the New Jersey governor is now saying, at least to a group of high school kids, that Romney might be able to "convince" him to join him on the Republican ticket.

When I first read this, I immediately turned to just how Christie could be convinced, and I landed on an extra-large meat-lovers pizza with double cheese with a Philly cheese steak and mozzarella sticks on the side.

But, you know, enough with the fat jokes -- Kimmel landed a couple of decent ones at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, but they're old, stale, and predictable. Yes, Christie is fat, but, then, a lot of us could afford to shed a few pounds or more.

No, I'd much rather call Christie what he also is, a bully and a blowhard, an authoritarian who sometimes gets it right but who usually comes across as a guest star on The Sopranos, hardly the sort of figure the Republican Heartland desires.

Now, he's certainly very popular in New Jersey, once my home state, at the moment, but there's no way he'll be the pick. A Romney-Christie ticket just wouldn't appeal to the right, and, while he's tacking to the center, Romney needs to hold the Republican base as much as possible. (Romney will move to the center and court independents, but he'll likely pick a running mate to shore up support on the right.)

It was a moment of candor, perhaps, but it won't happen even if he's open to it.