Update: According to the National Review, Christie will announce at 1 p.m. today that he’s not running.
Update II: The Times and Washington Post confirm it.
After weeks of growing suspense, Chris Christie’s decision on whether or not to run for president can happen any moment now. Sure, The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Christie promised Meg Whitman he wouldn’t run as a condition for her holding a fund-raiser for him last week (Whitman is a Mitt Romney supporter), but since when does it matter what Christie, you know, says to people? Also, he made a promise to Meg Whitman, not the pope. She’d get over it. So nobody really knows what Christie will do at this point, but word is that whatever it is, it’s going to happen really soon. So exciting! If at some point you step away from your computer today, don’t worry — a piercingly loud siren will sound in the nation’s major metropolitan areas if Christie announces his candidacy, alerting everyone within earshot that their world has changed forever.
But can a Christie candidacy actually live up to the hype that we in the media have so actively nurtured these past couple of weeks? According to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, Republican voters aren’t even really that excited about the possibility of Christie jumping into the race. Only 42 percent would “like to see Chris Christie run for the Republican nomination for president,” compared to 34 percent who would not, and 24 percent who don’t care. And then there are the horse-race numbers themselves. Among Republican registered voters, Christie takes fourth place with 11 percent, behind Mitt Romney, a tanking Rick Perry, and an ascendant Herman Cain (although the poll was taken largely before Cain made the mistake of being offended by racism). It’s not the worst position to be in, but you’d think that after being labeled the GOP’s ultimate messiah for the past few months, Christie would be in better shape than that, and that is not a fat joke.
Rick Perry slips, Herman Cain rises in bid for GOP nomination, poll finds [WP]
