Should Christie just run for President already? Kean & Byrne think so.

Once a week there’s usually a great back and forth on nj.com between 2 distinguished former Governors with their takes on what’s going on around the state.

They were at no shortage of opinion as to whether our present Governor is eyeing the White House.
Given his plans to visit Mexico next month, there’s no shortage of speculation he’s doing so to court Latino voters.

According to this:

Gov. Chris Christie will travel to Mexico next month for what’s being billed as a diplomatic and trade mission, but to some political observes is another indication Christie is laying the groundwork for a 2016 presidential campaign.

Just like he will say it’s all about fostering better trade relations with our neighbors down south – he tends to speak out of both sides of his mouth.

Witness his recent veto of the plan to institute sports betting in places like Atlantic City and Monmouth Park Racetrack. It wasn’t long ago he claimed that he’d take on Federal law prohibiting sports betting.

In his recent veto, he stated:

"Ignoring federal law, rather than working to reform federal standards, is counter to our democratic traditions and inconsistent with the Constitutional values I have sworn to defend and protect," he wrote in his veto message.

Both chambers of the Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill in June, days after the top court's ruling.

Christie, who is considering a run for president, seemed indifferent at the time, saying, "They said 'no,' so we have to move on."

So with every move he makes, he gets one step closer to announcing his intentions.

Should he just announce already and go about the business of campaigning, which he seems to be doing anyway?

Here’s the take of the two former Governors:

GOV. BYRNE: I think he’s been running for president for years and he’s been using all the gimmicks and games that deny you’re running. I don’t think he’s fooling anybody. I think he’s running for president and doing it correctly. But he’s disguising it poorly.

GOV. KEAN: It’s certainly a clear indication that he wants — at the moment — to stay in the race. Iowa and New Hampshire are the two most important primary states. If you don’t do well in one of the those, you can’t go on. So he’s laying the groundwork. Another thing I might note: He’s being received extraordinarily well. In early polls, he’s either No. 1 or 2 in both states.

BYRNE: It will be interesting to see how these various inquiries and investigations turn out. As of now, there’s no smoking gun he has to worry about.

KEAN: The Legislature’s investigation has fallen flat. The state’s taxpayers have now ante’d up over $5 million on the various investigations of Bridgegate, and so far what the governor told us on Day One hasn’t been brought into question. Unless the U.S. attorney has something, it’s time to move on.

In my view, he’s running and anything he does and says at this point is designed to benefit his aspirations.

Should the Governor just announce his intention to run for President already?