What are Christie’s chances if he decides to run?

Over the past week or so the big buzz in the fight for the Republican nomination is whether Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, will enter the race.

Senior figures in the party have been pressing him to put his hat into the ring because they believe that a moderate conservative with a good record would have a better chance of beating Obama than the current front-runner, Mitt Romney, or last month’s “star”, now on the wane, Rick Perry.

What’s bringing this to a head is that there isn’t much time left for a new entrant to come into the race and that Christie himself, has refused to rule it out.

Overnight a leading New Jersey newspaper, the Star-Ledger, is quoting a source close to the governor saying that he’s “seriously considering” a run.

It reports:”…In the last week, Christie has been swayed away from his earlier refusals to run by an aggressive draft effort from a cadre of Republicans and donors unhappy with the GOP field, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity..Christie has a small window of opportunity to make his final decision, and some political experts think he has only days to declare.

One issue that is increasingly being discussed on talk shows in the US is Christie’s weight. Without putting too fine a point on it he’s fat. This TV programme a sense of how he is being perceived.

In the betting Christie has moved sharply to the third favourite slot. Intrade have him at 8% to get the nomination. His price will certainly tighten if he does run and I’ve had a punt.

@MikeSmithsonPB