Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Chris Christie told Jimmy Fallon...

...last night that he may "go nuclear" in the next Republican debate on September 16.

To which I would say: That's adorable! Do you really think you'll make the next debate? And, even if you do, do you think anyone will care?

In the latest polls, the New Jersey governor is in eleventh place, with 2.7 percent, behind Rand Paul and ahead of Rick Perry. If the rules are the same for the next debate, Carly Fiorina will take Christie's place on the stage.

Besides, the only person anyone will be watching to see if he "goes nuclear" is Donald Trump.

And the moral of the story is that Gov. Christie probably missed his best chance to run for president in 2012. Everyone was begging him to enter the race as an alternative to Mitt Romney, but Christie felt it just wasn't the right time.

But sometimes you don't get to pick the ideal time to run. Another establishment politician who may have missed his best chance in 2012 is Jeb Bush, currently polling in single-digits despite having more money than any other candidate in either party.

As for the "movement" wing of the party, Trump and now Ben Carson are eclipsing a couple of other candidates who may have passed their "sell by" dates, Rand Paul and Bobby Jindal. Remember them? They were two rising stars a few years ago that now elicit mostly yawns. Paul may slip into the next debate as the tenth candidate (or "contestant," as Trump calls them) while Jindal is polling at less than one percent. How humiliating is that?

Oh, and by the way, Republicans don't have a corner on missing the best opportunity in which to run for president. Even though Hillary Clinton is still the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, I wonder if she missed her best chance in 2004, when she was still fresh and W. was very beatable.

Like President Obama, it isn't necessarily best to wait until you're ready to run. Sometimes you need to just go for it when the opportunity presents itself and you're still a hot commodity. 

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