As the months have gone by, the love affair from the Republican party with their possible 2012 presidential candidates has been short-lived. First, they loved Donald Trump with his birther rhetoric towards President Obama. Once Trump faded away, Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann was the next in line. After repeated gaffs, horrible policies and the general opinion that she is just un-electable , the Republican Tea Party has backed away from Bachmann and put their eggs in the basket of Rick Perry. While Rick Perry is leading the polls, his numbers have begun to drop. With each debate that Perry has entered, he has looked increasingly weak. Social conservatives are starting to second guess Perry as the focus has come on to his immigration policy were he granted discounted education to children born in the US, but to parents who were illegal.
As the numbers of some of the GOP favorites have dropped, they have looked for someone new to place at the top of the ticket. Mitt Romney, long seen as the possible front-runner, is just not seen as "one of them" among two important factions of the Republican Party, the Tea Party and the religious radicals. The name that keeps getting put back on the list is anti-union New Jersey governor, Chris Christie. Christie has said repeatedly that he isn't interested in running for office, but with the current crop of candidates that are at the top of list, it's not surprising that the Republicans are still looking for someone to fit the bill.
Will Christie run? The chance is slim to none. A north-east conservative won't play very well in the south, and Christie is seen as being weak when it comes to social issues that hard right conservatives hold near and dear to their hearts. The real story however, is not about Christie, but more about the lack of confidence that the Republican Party has for their current crop of potential candidates. Even with economy down, if this is all that the Republican Party has to offer, things might not be as tough for President Obama as some are making it out to be.
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