Gov. Chris Christie refused offer to give Republican rebuttal to SOTU

Looks the job of giving the official Republican response wasn’t initially intended to be in Rep. Paul Ryan’s hands. In fact, another GOP rising star. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey was given the tap, but refused.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie turned down an offer from the Republican leadership to deliver the official Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, The Auditor/Star-Ledger is reporting.

“They tried to see if there was interest, and there wasn’t any,” Chris Christie’s personal aide William Palatucci, the source of the story, said. Palatucci told The Auditor that Christie’s desire not to involve himself in the federal debate was the reason he declined the offer.

I can’t blame Christie in this case. After what happened to Gov. Jindal in 2009, it’s probably not worth risking his potential presidential aspirations. Although Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who like Christie was also elected in 2009 , gave the 2010 response and came out relatively unscathed his star isn’t shining quite as bright as Christie’s at the moment.

Nonetheless, I’m sure Paul Ryan will do a great job giving the official GOP rebuttal President Obama’s State of the Union address.