benchwarmer

Chris Christie may be interested in the job, but he's not going to be Mittens's running mate. His party's high rollers are seeing to that.

The Republican Politburo (i.e., Karl Rove, David Koch, and the rest of the boyz who make the decisions) have decided that Christie has an "Islam problem," and on Monday used their main sewer pipe, the National Review Online, to announce it.

Christie, according to the NRO hit piece, "has sided with Islamist forces against those who worry about safeguarding American security and civilization." That's another way of saying he doesn't exhibit the necessary irrational fear and hatred of Muslims to qualify as a "real conservative."

Too bad for Romney, since the big guy is a talented and creative speaker who avoids bureaucratese, uses direct, plain English with good effect (when he manages not to lapse into misogyny), and would have brought a little life and spark into the foundering Republican campaign.

I don't actually know what motivated this take-down. Possibly, there was nervousness in the Romney camp over having a VP candidate who speaks with force and verve, which might underscore Willard's awkwardness and deficiencies as a public speaker.