If you want to know what’s in Chris Christie’s heart and his head, a good man to ask is Republican strategist Bill Palatucci, the governor’s political confidante.
But Palatucci was careful today not to get ahead of the script when we asked about Christie running for President in 2016 if Mitt Romney loses this fall or taking a Cabinet post if the Romney-Ryan ticket wins.
“Oh, that’s just getting far ahead of ourselves. This is August. Let’s get these guys elected and then the future takes care of itself.”
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If Romney wins, Christie would likely have to wait until 2020 to run for the White House, but again, Palatucci wasn’t biting.
“You already have him running for President,” exclaimed Palatucci. “This election is not even over. I would hope Gov. Christie would get to give the keynote speech again in 2016 for Mitt Romney’s re-election.”
People who work in close proximity to Christie but don’t support him, like Democratic Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-37), think his ambition is clear.
She can see him accepting an offer to be U.S. Attorney General, considering his past experience as U.S. Attorney.
“That’s a position where you get a lot of face time,” said Weinberg.
And if Romney loses, the 2013 New Jersey governor’s race is around the corner. And Christie hasn’t committed to that yet. Some think he’ll avoid it.
Democratic analyst Jim McQueeny thinks Christie will go the television route because a second term New Jersey governor will be a lame duck due to a tough, Democratic-controlled legislature. “He’s gonna take a job on TV, Fox probably, and he’s gonna have a free ride, analyst ride, all the way up to Iowa,” predicted McQueeny. “He’ll do a great job there and I think he runs first in Iowa when he decides to leave there.”
Others, like Palatucci, say Christie loves being governor and feels his work in New Jersey is not done, despite progress on pensions and fiscal policy. Palatucci said he sees Christie finishing the job as governor.
“From where I sit right now, that’s what I see happening.”
Critics of his record think he won’t want to run on it.
According to Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, Christie will find the second time around very difficult. “Now whether he does it or not, I don’t know, but he’s gonna find it difficult because the next four years, we’re going to have to pay the piper,” said Weinberg.
Meanwhile, Christie continues to work on his speech, a speech Palatucci said Christie is writing himself as he always does.
Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron files this report.