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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — besieged by Republican insiders to enter the presidential race since Rick Perry’s GOP debate meltdown — takes the national stage tonight as feature speaker at the presidential library of party icon Ronald Reagan.
Christie is on a four-day political trip that will take him to California, Missouri and Louisiana and that aides say was scheduled well in advance of the latest push to get him to run for the White House.
But the first-term Garden State governor was bombarded with get-in-the-race phone calls from GOP opinion makers and moneymen during the live broadcast of last Thursday’s GOP debate — while front-runner Perry was underwhelming the party faithful.
Among the prominent former party leaders now pushing hardest for Christie to jump into the crowded presidential field are former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the Bush family, sources said.
Former First Lady Barbara Bush even reached out to Christie’s wife, Mary Pat, to convince her that their children and family would be able to thrive in the White House despite the fishbowl-like attention, according to one Christie intimate.
But even though Christie will boost his national exposure again today when he delivers a major speech at the Reagan Library, the intensifying pressure has failed, so far, to convince him.
He privately told his inner circle yesterday that he’s still not running, sources said. But its unclear whether the latest turn-down will turn off the mounting pressure for him to run.
Christie gave serious thought to running last month after Rep. Michele Bachmann scored a straw-poll victory in Iowa — a showing that forced former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to drop out, one Republican in touch with Christie told The Post.
Christie had regarded Pawlenty as a moderate and electable alternative to Mitt Romney — while he has long felt Bachmann has no chance and Perry is an empty suit whose candidacy will evaporate as soon as he gets national attention.
But after Perry rocketed to front-runner status in GOP polls in early September, Christie quickly shelved his thoughts about the White House.
That changed again last Thursday night during Perry’s stammerfest at the GOP debate. Well-connected Republicans began making their pitch to Christie “while it was still going on,” a Christie pal said.
Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, an informal Christie adviser, told The National Review, “He’s getting appeals from major figures around the country.”
Party leaders are increasingly talking about the benefits of a Christie candidacy, such as its impact on swing states like neighboring Pennsylvania, where they believe the New Jersey governor has appeal.
Christie is talking very much like someone who wants to replace President Obama. In his speech at the Reagan Library, he will deplore what an intimate called the “absolute lack of leadership in the White House.”
The push for Christie takes on new urgency because state parties have to notify the Republican National Committee by Friday as to when they plan to hold their 2012 primaries.
Some states, trying to maximize the impact of their voters, are trying to move up to January or February, meaning Christie would have even less time to put together a national organization.
“It is not too late yet,” Republican strategist Doug Heye said about a Christie run, noting that Bill Clinton didn’t officially enter the 1992 race until October 1991. “But the barrier to entry increases with each passing day.”
With S.A. Miller in Washington