No wonder the GOP brass made a late pass at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. In less than two years as New Jersey's governor, he's cut state spending by more than 5 percent and pushed for lower business taxes that will save employers $2.35 billion over five years.
He's perfectly reasonable on social issues, unfazed by cheap shots about his weight and not afraid to tell his constituents to "get the hell off the beach" when there's a hurricane coming. America could use a leader like that.
Christie isn't ready or willing to run for president.
And that leaves us, at least for now, with a badly hobbled president who still runs neck and neck with the top Republican candidate. And 13 months for someone else in the lineup to surprise us for the better, or not.
This is why, in fact, we need a nice, long lead-up to presidential elections. It gives us plenty of time to sort things out.
The danger is that our leaders will spend that time battling for the White House to the exclusion of governing, that the partisan sideshow over the federal debt and deficit will continue right up until Election Day.
Lots of noise, no progress on tax reform or spending reductions while we keep borrowing $4 billion each day -- that's something Americans can't afford, and shouldn't tolerate.
