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If the funding is in place and Rudy Giuliani helps Christie with NE GOP primary delegates and Florida, the campaign, even though late in arriving, will be winnable.

Moreover, Christie has at least two staff members who worked for Giuliani’s 2008 campaign: Maria Comella (Rudy’s traveling communications director) and Michael DuHaime (Giuliani’s campaign manager).

Governor Christie will be out in California tomorrow evening speaking at the Reagan Presidential Library.

So, stay tuned…..

I guess NOT.

Chris Christie took another spin in the “I’m not running for president” tango this morning. Today’s dance partner: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Speaking before an audience of students at Rider University, Republican governors were asked (again) to explain their respective decisions not to run for president. Christie did, prompting this push from Daniels:

“I’m not taking no from Christie…I’m taking ‘Not yet,’” Daniels said, before declaring his respect for Christie’s decision. “He’s doing so many good things for your state. Your state needs him to keep on.”

But……

And while his (Christie’s) words say no to a quick departure from New Jersey, recent actions — such as this week’s launch of $1.5 million ad campaign touting his achievements in New York and Pennsylvania — say “maybe.”

The GOP Presidential field needs additional candidates, if not them, who?

Well, to say that Texas Governor Rick Perry had a bad night is an understatment. As the front-runner in the polls for the GOP Presidential nominee, he under performed to epic failure proportions.

Perry was even booed by the Florida GOP crowd for his statements defending his record on The Dream Act and illegal immigration.

Mitt Romney, the other front-runner, was the same mechanical TECHNOCRAT flip-flopper he always is. Mitt is the “safe” candidate but continues as uninspiring.

Time for another candidate or candidates to emerge.

The e-mails flooding into our inbox during the evening were less guarded. Early on, we received this missive from a bright young conservative: “I’m watching my first GOP debate…and WE SOUND LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE!!!!” As the evening went on, the craziness receded, and the demoralized comments we received stressed the mediocrity of the field rather than its wackiness. As one more experienced, and therefore more jaded, observer wrote: “I just thought maybe it’s always this bad…they’re only marginally worse than McCain and Bush.”

Now there are some legitimate excuses. With nine candidates on the stage, and answers restricted to one minute, it’s hard to really show your stuff. And two of the candidates—Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney—did provide respectable performances. But no front-runner in a presidential field has ever, we imagine, had as weak a showing as Rick Perry. It was close to a disqualifying two hours for him. And Mitt Romney remains, when all is said and done, a technocratic management consultant whose one term as governor produced Romneycare. He could rise to the occasion as president. Or not.

Time for Chris Christie, Paul Ryan to step up or for Mitch Daniels to reconsider.

American cannot afford another four years of an Obama Administration.

Jen Rubin hopes and in a way, so do I.

Republicans are now confessing openly: The current field is weak, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry leaves them with substantial doubts. This conversation from the “Panel Plus” discussion of “Fox News Sunday” is illuminating…..

There are several factors at play here.

First, Perry has not yet coaxed the big donors off the sidelines.There is plenty of money for Christie to scoop up.

Second, none of the candidates in the field has been able to put together all factions of the party. As Evan Bayh noted on Fox, Christie is someone who embodies the Tea Party spirit (feisty, anti-D.C. establishment) but is more than sophisticated enough to satisfy mainstream conservatives, business leaders and policy wonks.

From what I gather, most Republicans will accept Rick Perry over Mitt Romney, but are really looking for somebody else. A team of Chris Christie and Paul Ryan would be awesomeness for grass roots and establishment Republicans.

If not, then the fight (and it will be a media battle royale) will be in the GOP primary elections/caucuses on whether to go “do no harm” with Romney (a safe candidate) or “go long” with Rick Perry (grass roots conservative who shoots from the hip).

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels maintains there is room for another candidate in the race. I don’t think he means Sarah Palin.

Texas Governor is the candidate of the hour, but Karl Rove makes the case that more may enter the Presidential arena.

ROVE: We’ve got a good field. I don’t think that’s the end, though, of the field. I think we’re likely to see several other candidates think seriously about getting in, and frankly, they have time to do so.

November 22 is the first deadline to file papers to get on a ballot — that’s the last day somebody could get in without starting to lose their place in some of the early primaries or caucuses.

I suspect we’re likely to see an early September, late August — people taking it seriously.

SEAN HANNITY: All right, who are these people you suspect might get in?

ROVE: I think Palin.

HANNITY: You do think Palin?

ROVE: Well, I think she’s going to look seriously at it. I don’t know if any of these are going to actually get in, but I think that the nature of the field, and the fact that we’ve now got three candidates when we could have had four, five, or six major candidates is going to lead people to say “Well, I could be in that contest.”

Palin has got a pretty active schedule in early September. I think Chris Christie and Paul Ryan are going to look at it again, and I wouldn’t be surprised if all three of them gave serious consideration to it….

HANNITY: I’ve talked to Governor Christie a lot and he says “No way”.

I was more convinced Gov. Palin after I saw her and interviewed her Friday night at the Iowa state fair that she might get in now.

Paul Ryan, I don’t think has given any indication. What makes you think those two will get in — meaning Ryan and Christie.

ROVE: Well, two things. There was an event in New York — [co-founder of Home Depot] Ken Langone pulled together some big moneyraisers and met with Christie and said “you need to think seriously about this.”

And it’s not just the meeting. What happened afterwards — from what I picked up around the country — I talked to a number of people who had picked up the phone and called Christie to tell him they thought that he ought to run. These are Republican activists, Republican donors, movers and shakers, activists around the country.

And the same on Paul Ryan, and I’m starting to pick up some sort of vibrations that these kinds of conversations are causing Christie and Ryan to tell the people who are calling them “Well, you know what, I owe it to you. I think I will take a look at it.”

Whether or not that happens or not, I don’t know, but I’m just picking that up that people have some sense, some belief that these two guys are going to take a look at it.

I agree that Sarah Palin is a wild card in the race fro 2012 and should Sarah enter the race, the conservative field would be scattered all over the map. I, also, predict that should Palin run, so would Rudy Giuliani which would really divide the GOP Presidential delegate distribution.

I can foresee a scenario where the GOP nomination comes down to the California GOP primary election in June (likely, a winner take all election) or a “brokered” convention – much like Ford Vs. Reagan in 1976.

Some South Carolina POLS will try to persuade the New Jersey Governor.

Multiple South Carolina state representatives plan on holding a news conference next week to urge New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to enter the presidential race.

Republican state Rep. Kris Crawford told POLITICO the goal was to entice a candidate capable of going “toe to toe with the Obama political machine,” and at least a few state lawmakers think Christie fits the bill.

Crawford and state Rep. Phyllis Henderson — who previously told Roll Call she hoped to spark a Christie draft — have scheduled a “Draft Chris Christie for President” event from the statehouse steps at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Crawford said he and Henderson are taking point for the event, but hope that between half a dozen and a dozen legislators show up.

“Having had conversations on the floor for the last two months, I know that there’s interest out there,” Crawford said. “Here’s a guy who’s willing to have the hard conversation, speak the truth and take on what is, frankly, going to be a really tough political operation on the Democratic side.”

Yesterday it was Rudy Giuliani, today it is Texas Governor Rick Perry, next week it is Chris Christie.

The GOP Presidential field is growing and getting a little crowded, although the race probably lost one today in Newt Gingrich.