This would be the same Christie who, in September 2012, headlined a fundraiser for Iowa congressman Steve King, who is not just one of the craziest members of the GOP crazy wing, but who also announced a month later that he probably wouldn't vote for relief money for Sandy victims for the same reason he refused to vote for federal aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina: Because he was pretty sure people spent the relief money on "Gucci bags and massage parlors." This is a man Christie wanted to win reelection, in order to help Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives, so that they could continue ignoring the priorities and desperate needs of liberal, urban coastal states like New Jersey.

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Christie was referring to a $60 billion funding package that would have gone to Hurricane relief efforts, which Republican leadership failed to bring to a vote before adjourning last night. "Last night politics was placed before our  oath to our citizens," Christie said. "For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."

He added that Sandy victims in New York and New Jersey have had to wait six times longer for federal disaster relief funding than victims of Hurricane Katrina, which Christie said shows a "callous indifference to the suffering of people in my state." The bill, which passed out of the Senate, "just could not overcome the toxic internal politics of the House majority," Christie said.

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Via NJ.com/Statehouse Bureau.

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January: Newt Gingrich

To anyone who’d just been teleported from the year 1999, the scene in Charleston, South Carolina on the night of January 21 had to be impossible to fathom: There was Newt Gingrich, the man who’d been marched off the political stage by his own party after a disastrous four-year run as House Speaker, declaring victory in a Republican presidential primary. And not just any primary: South Carolina, a historically pivotal early contest. And not just a victory – an absolute landslide.

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"Let there be no doubt, I will complete my full second term as mayor. As for my political future, I will explore the possibility of running for The United States Senate in 2014," Booker said.

Booker's run would be for the seat currently occupied by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, another Democrat. Lautenberg, who at 88 is the oldest U.S. Senator, has not announced whether or not he will seek another term when his is up in 2014.

Booker continued:

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"There are people who say you couldn't be president because you're so heavy," Barbara Walters said to Gov. Christie in a recent interview. "I mean, that's ridiculous," Christie told Walters. "I don't know what the basis for that is."

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The Republican governor was asked about his weight problem during an interview with Barbara Walters for her "10 Most Fascinating People" special Wednesday night on ABC.

Walters told the governor some people say he is too heavy to be president one day.

"That's ridiculous," Christie responded. "I don't know what the basis for that is."

Walters said worries about his health were the reason for the concern. The governor then pointed to his widely praised handling of Superstorm Sandy, which has sent his popularity soaring.

"I've done this job pretty well, and I think people watched me for the last number of weeks and Hurricane Sandy doing 18-hour days and getting right back up the next day and still being just as effective in the job," he said. "So I don't really think that would be a problem."

Christie had considered a run for president in 2012. Last month, he announced that he would seek re-election as governor, saying he wanted to lead the state through its post-storm rebuilding and that the one year left in his first term wouldn't be enough to finish the job.

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But I’m starting to doubt myself, at least a little. Booker recently talked about his political future with Charlie Stile of the (Bergen County) Record, saying that he’ll decide soon whether to challenge Christie or mount a campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2014. (Booker’s second term as mayor expires in ’14 and he has plainly had enough of that job.)

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Booker, who leads the state's largest city, also says he's also thinking about running for the U.S. Senate.

He tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that he has to decide on a gubernatorial bid in the next couple of weeks out of respect for his party and the other Democratic candidates who'd like to take on the outspoken Christie.

Speculation about the 43-year-old's political future has been high for much of his second term as mayor.

Christie has said he's running in the November 2013 election.

As for the Senate, the seat held by 88-year-old Democrat Frank Lautenberg is up in 2014.

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The week before the Hurricane Sandy, Stewart said, Christie criticized Obama's leadership skills. “And then right after the storm was over, you were like, 'This man is a leader.'" said Stewart. "Doesn't that tell you something about the game?"

"What it tells me is that people have different skill sets at different times,” Christie replied, which made the audience laugh. Stewart shot back: “So he wasn’t a leader until you needed leadership.”

"Maybe until he was presented with a stark opportunity," said Christie.

Here's part one:

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I’m not talking about the illusion of an advantage that comes with winning consecutive elections. That might be the result of a streak in which the party is helped by favorable fundamentals, or it can be, as with Democratic majorities in the New Deal era, simply part of a national advantage. In either case, a party might win the same states every time, but -- as Republicans discovered in 1992 -- when those favorable conditions end, the apparent electoral “lock” disappears, too.

No, I’m talking about an Electoral College edge above and beyond the national vote. That’s not defined by which states went for which candidate; it’s found by looking at what would have happened in the Electoral College if an election had been tied in the national vote. To calculate it, assume uniform swing – that is, if swing state Ohio moves toward the Democrats, then liberal Vermont and conservative Utah will also move toward the Democrats by the same amount. In reality, the states don’t swing quite that equally, but they’re very close to it.

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According to PPP,  Christie, who recently filed for reelection in 2013, is beating out all possible Democratic opponents, including the very popular Newark Mayor Cory Booker. PPP reports:

He leads Cory Booker 50-36, Richard Codey 53-31, Steve Sweeney 57-20, and Barbara Buono 60-20. Against Sweeney and Buono Christie actually wins the Democratic vote, something I don't think PPP has ever found a candidate in any contest we've ever polled doing across party lines.

In a hypothetical match-up against Springsteen that PPP threw in there "just for fun," Christie is leading by a 61-25 percent margin.

As for 2016, 44 percent of voters say Christie shouldn't run, and only 38 percent say he should.

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Sen. Frank Lautenberg, 88, also a Democrat, is the current seat-holder, and so far has not announced his plans for 2014. Lautenberg has a 43/36 approval rating, according to PPP, and would have a big win in a hypothetical race against Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.

But according to the poll, only 36 percent of Democratic primary voters in the state say he should run again, and 45 percent say he should retire. From PPP:

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The 50-year-old Republican filed papers with election officials Monday cementing his intention to seek a second term, according to two people close to the governor. The technical step allows Christie to set up a campaign headquarters, hire staff and raise money toward his re-election, said the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak before the governor makes a formal announcement in a few weeks.

Christie carried the Democratic-leaning state by 86,000 votes in 2009, an upset win over Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine.

Christie, who has become a national figure during his first term, is riding an unprecedented wave of popularity because of how he handled the storm. Even Democrats have applauded his hands-on response. He appeared on "Saturday Night Live" in his trademark fleece pullover this month to lampoon his own nationally televised storm briefings.

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As Jonathan Bernstein pointed out recently, jockeying by would-be Democratic candidates actually began well before Election Day, and party leaders, activists and interest groups are already seeking to define the terms of the 2016 debate within the party. And now that Mitt Romney has gone down to defeat, thereby assuring that the GOP’s ’16 nomination will be open too, a similar process is playing out on the Republican side. These early days of a presidential election cycle are generally known as the “invisible primary,” although in today’s media landscape, it’s easier than ever to see who’s up to what.

In the modern era of presidential politics – that is, since the power to nominate candidates was taken away from convention power-brokers and given to primary voters – this process has tended to be more predictable on the Republican side, with a “next in line” candidate emerging from one election as the clear favorite for the next nomination and then going on to win it.

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The New York Times reports this morning that soon after the Fox News chief's tweet, Christie called Murdoch to tell him New Jersey needed the federal government's help. Murdoch, however, did not back down. The Times says he told Christie he "risked looking like a spoiler" unless he publicly backed Romney again.

The message got through -- after several days of embracing and praising Obama, Christie made a point of saying the next day that he was still backing Mitt.

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"It's basically fused to my skin at this point... I'm gonna die in this fleece" said Christie. He also took the opportunity to barb mayors who ignored his Sandy evacuation orders, "I do not thank any of the stupid mayors who ignored my evacuation orders. They're idiots. And when you ignore me, it makes you look like a real Seth Meyers."

Watch below, via Hulu:

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