Christie's Brashness Blunts Hope to Join Ticket
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/nyregion/christie-balancing-national-ambitions-with-governorship.html?_r=1&ref=politics
WASHINGTON Chris Christie asked for an audience at the Brookings Institution last week, and being one of the nations most popular and provocative governors, got one.
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The appearance was a reminder why some prominent conservatives and Republican donors have been promoting Mr. Christie as the perfect running mate for Mitt Romney. He has a record of fiscal conservatism in a moderate state. His aggressive approach to political combat has excited the Tea Party contingent, but he also has influential allies on Wall Street and in other power centers of the Republican Party. His rumpled, real-guy persona would complement Mr. Romneys wealthy, pressed-jeans image.
Democrats in New Jersey, his home state, mocked his address at Brookings as the Tampa Try-Out Tour, his audition for a role at the Republican nominating convention later this summer.
But Mr. Christies star has faded as a potential vice-presidential pick. As polls show that his bluntness is striking more voters as bullying, Republicans close to Mr. Romneys campaign say that the governors continued hostile encounters including one on the Jersey Shore this month that was caught on video have augmented fears that he is too unpredictable and too contentious, turning what was once viewed as a key strength into a drawback.
Guess we can take him out of the VP speculation!