Christie has been “working with Democrats and Republicans. Believing that as long as you stick to your principles, 'compromise' isn’t a dirty word,” the ad says.

”The most important thing he did has little to do with numbers, statistics or even politics. He made us proud to say we we’re from New Jersey,” it continues.

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He continued: "You’ve got people suffering and you say to yourself, I’ve got to do my job. I say the same thing to all of them – put yourself in my shoes, and if you’re a responsible elected official, you would do nothing different.”

At the time, Christie sharply criticized House Speaker John Boehner and other House Republicans for holding up a vote on relief funds after the hurricane, meanwhile praising President Obama for his efforts in the state.

“Listen, I supported Mitt Romney and I was very vocal about it,” Christie added. “But the fact is, presidential politics was not the first thing on my mind that day. It was getting my state recovered and restored.”

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Bloomberg News reports:

Christie said New Jersey’s gun-control laws are already considered the second-toughest in the nation by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. He cited the state’s assault- weapons ban, a seven-day waiting period prior to any firearm purchase, the third-strictest capacity laws on magazine capacity in the country and a one-gun-a-month law.

He is seeking to toughen laws by mandating that mental- health records are included in the instant background-check process at the time of a firearm purchase. He also is proposing bills to impose or strengthen criminal penalties for selling firearms to convicted felons, possessing a gun with the intent to unlawfully transfer, unlawfully possessing ammunition and engaging in firearms trafficking.

“Ensuring there are common-sense safety measures when purchasing guns is not enough,” Christie said Monday in a press conference. “We must address the many different contributing factors.”

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The right had a new champion. Having weakened and nearly destroyed the private sector union movement in America over the last 30 years, it was time to home in on a new target: public sector unions and, in fact, the very idea that a fair society requires a robust public sphere. (Hint: This is true for the non-wealthy, less so for people who can buy their way into private schools, private beaches, private jets and so on.)

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Buono, a state senator, has had a tough time gaining any momentum in the race, with Christie enjoying overwhelming popularity that has sustained since Hurricane Sandy. But gay rights pose a tricky problem for the Republican governor. For example, Christie had to scramble to clarify his opposition to gay conversion therapy after commenting that “I’m of two minds just on this stuff in general." Buono called the remark "disgusting," while the DGA fundraised off of it.

From the Star-Ledger:

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"Governor Christie does not believe in conversion therapy," Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts wrote in a statement, the Star-Ledger reports. "There is no mistaking his point of view on this when you look at his own prior statements where he makes clear that people’s sexual orientation is determined at birth."

"I’m of two minds just on this stuff in general," Christie said earlier this week, regarding a bill that passed the state Senate that would ban the practice. "Number one, I think there should be lots of deference given to parents on raising their children. I don’t — this is a general philosophy, not to his bill — generally philosophically, on bills that restrict parents’ ability to make decisions on how to care for their children, I’m generally a skeptic of those bills. Now, there can always be exceptions to those rules and this bill may be one of them."

Christie clarified after his Democratic challenger Barbara Buono called it "disgusting," and the DGA started fundraising off of his comments.

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At the federal level, much of what Republicans are doing is not working beyond the core constituencies that make up the Party. On the state level, however, it is a different story. Republicans hold governorships in 30 states with 315 electoral votes, the most governors either party has had in 12 years, and four short of the all-time GOP high of 34 governors who served in the 1920s.

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"After Barack let him ride on Air Force One, he gave him an ice cream cone," Morris said.

The famously inaccurate pundit was presumably alluding to a ride Obama and Christie took together to tour devastation in New Jersey stemming from Hurricane Sandy. Christie has gotten on the bad side of some conservatives for praising the president's handling of the disaster and its aftermath.

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The event, as it always does, will attract thousands of conservative activists, opinion-shapers and politicians and will receive substantial media coverage. It’s hard to say exactly how well the conference, which serves as an umbrella for a funky area of right-leaning groups and causes, reflects the conservative movement, but the events of the next few days could provide some useful clues about where conservatism is heading in Barack Obama’s second term and the role that some prominent and ambitious Republicans will play in it.

To that end, here are three things to be watching for at CPAC:

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There have been only 36 female governors in United States history. While there are far more Democratic women in Congress -- some of whom, like Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren, are on wish lists for national office -- Republicans tend to do far better when it comes to statewide office, which Barack Obama aside, is the traditional path to the top.

There are four female Republican governors in office -- Nikki Haley, Mary Fallin, Susana Martinez and Jan Brewer -- while Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire just became the only Democrat. Meanwhile, President Obama took two Democratic female governors out of the executive game when he picked Janet Napolitano and Kathleen Sebelius for his Cabinet. Next year might be better for Democratic women: While Barbara Buono has an uphill climb against Chris Christie in New Jersey, Rep. Allyson Schwartz intends to run against Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, already nationally infamous for saying women who didn’t want to be forced to look at ultrasounds before an abortion should just close their eyes.

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The official explanation from Al Cardenas, the conference’s chief organizer: “CPAC is like the all-star game for professional athletes; you get invited when you have had an outstanding year.” Christie, apparently thanks to his loud public criticism of House Republicans when they delayed passage of a Sandy relief package, was deemed to have had a sub-par year.

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It began when it was reported that gay Republican groups like the Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud would not be in attendance at this year's conservative confab in Washington, D.C. GOProud, in fact, was banned before last year's event and was not welcomed back this year, either.

There was more trouble for CPAC when, this week, the chair of the American Conservative Union, which organizes the conference, explained that CPAC snubbed super-popular New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie because he opted in to the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, and put too much pressure on congressional Republicans who were blocking Hurricane Sandy aid.

Since some Republicans have been trying to appeal to a broader swath of the electorate, these decisions were naturally going to irk a few people.

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"I think this is a vast overreaction. It's a mistake," Krauthammer said on Fox News. "He's a leading Republican, obviously presidential timbre. He's got the highest popularity of any governor and he's in a blue state."

"Look, I wasn't very happy with what he did at Sandy," he continued. "I thought he deserved three months of quarantine. The three months is up and I'd let him out. I'd have him at CPAC. We should have a wide tent. And if that's what it takes to win elections in the Northeast and nationwide, let's go for it." Krauthammer added that he thinks the CPAC organizers, the American Conservative Union, are "trying to define legitimate ideology fairly narrowly and they want to rule people out."

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Cardenas told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that Christie's harsh rhetoric against congressional Republicans during the time that they were blocking the Sandy bill was a dealbreaker. "This past year, we were disappointed with his take on the disaster relief bill," he said. "We're hoping that next year he will give us a reason to invite him again."

He added: "[Christie] made it very hard for Republicans in the Congress at a time when we were trying to deal with fiscal restraint."

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Republican governors have been resisting the expansion, taking a lawsuit against the federal government all the way to the Supreme Court, but are backing down one by one. Last week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the most outspoken of the GOP governors against the healthcare law, also relented.

The expansion in New Jersey will provide healthcare coverage to about 300,000 residents who currently don't have it. Washington will cover 100 percent of the cost for the expansion for the first three years, before support drops to 90 percent, but Republican governors worried the money would be insufficient or discontinue after some time.

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In a story that recalls Paul Ryan's uninvited and unrequited declaration of love for Rage Against the Machine (and, for that matter, Chris Christie's obsession with Bruce Springsteen), the prime minister is a longtime fan of the new wave band — who split in the 1980s, and are perhaps best known for their songs "How Soon Is Now" and "Heaven Knows (I'm Miserable Now) — and has said so on many occasions. Marr has voiced his disgust, telling the BBC that this is "not allowed." But Cameron, who was on a visit to India, declared he'd "go on and listen,"anyway. In 2006, Cameron chose the Smiths song "This Charming Man" on Desert Island Discs.

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The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City said it will become the first casino in the United States to let guests gamble over hotel room TV sets, starting Feb. 18.

Its E-Casino program will let guests with player's cards set up electronic accounts and risk up to $2,500 a day. Slots and four kinds of video poker will be the first games offered.

The casino says the technology can be expanded to include gambling over hand-held devices anywhere on casino property, which New Jersey recently authorized, and full Internet gambling, if the state approves it.

"This puts us in a position to leverage the technology into true mobile gaming and Internet betting later on," said Tom Balance, the Borgata's president and chief operating officer. "We're moving forward with the future of gaming, and this is that first step."

John Forelli, the casino's vice president of information technology, said it is designed not only as an added amenity, but to get them familiar and comfortable with the concept of electronic gambling accounts for the day when Internet wagering comes to New Jersey. Gov. Chris Christie last week vetoed an Internet gambling bill, but said he would sign one with some moderate changes.

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Uh-oh, but I shouldn't have mentioned health issues related to being overweight, because we know that sets Christie off -- particularly, it seems, when an uppity lady brings it up. Everyone's heard about the governor's heartwarming star-turn with David Letterman, despite Letterman's repeated and sometimes cruel jokes about his weight. Now we're hearing about the way he chewed up former White House doctor Connie Mariano, a Republican and a fan, for warmly expressing concern about his weight, calling her a "hack" and telling her to "shut up."

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In late January, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a small increase in the minimum wage, from the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour to $8.50 an hour. Christie said that raising the minimum wage would “jeopardize New Jersey’s economic progress.” Christie based his opposition on concerns about small business, although two out of three low-wage workers are employed by corporations with over 100 employees.

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