Chris Christie Will Not Run for GOP Nomination

Just this afternoon, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whom many had speculated would jump into the race for the GOP nomination and really shake things up a bit, announced that he will not be running for the nomination. This move disappointed many, as Christie, were he to get the GOP nomination, seemed to be the best candidate against Obama. As stated by David Paul Kuhn, "The first-term governor was strong where the most likely Republican nominees are weak. Christie was a Rorschach test for conservatives’ continued unease with the current GOP field." With Christie now out of the discussion, the field seems to be set barring a late Sarah Palin entry, which seems extremely unlikely at this point.

In addition to Christie's announcement, the last week has seen significant movement for Rick Perry and Herman Cain in the polls, negative for Perry and positive for Cain. Nearly all of the recent polls have Perry and Cain nearly equal, and some, such as CBS News' National President poll, have Cain up on Perry by 5 percent. Although we'll obviously see much more change in these numbers as the race goes on, Cain's jump is very significant and he provides an interesting opponent to the frontrunner Mitt Romney. The movement of Cain will be very interesting to follow as the campaigns progress.

Sources: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/10/04/what_the_christie_craze_means___111567.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-christie-out-will-romney-or-perry-prosper/2011/10/04/gIQADnzqLL_story.html?hpid=z1