I don’t normally readjust my expectations based on a NewsMax article, but I do believe this one has validity: according to the conservative website NewsMax.com, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is seriously reconsidering issuing a ‘NEVER MIND!’ on his previous refusal to run for President and could well jump into the GOP’s frayed Republican nomination fray:

UPDATE: This story is now gaining strength — and credibility — with this report from The Politico:

With the party’s frontrunner sagging, Chris Christie is reconsidering pleas from Republican elites and donors to run for president in 2012, two Republican sources told POLITICO.

The New Jersey governor has indicated he is listening to big-money backers and Republican influence-makers, and will let them know in roughly a week whether he has moved off his threat-of-suicide vow to stay on the sidelines of a presidential race that remains amorphous heading into the fall, the two sources said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s candidacy has failed to clear a basic bar with elites and some donors, and his shoddy debate performance in Orlando has only highlighted the window for someone who Republicans searching for a Mitt Romney alternative can rally around.

Christie’s potential candidacy has been an increasingly fevered fantasy of a certain cadre of some media and business elites — mostly based in New York, with a smattering of California technology and entertainment players — since last summer.

This is very interesting because it depicts Christie as a more establishment type of politician which is exactly what the Tea Party doesn’t want. Combined with Christie’s recent stance against the sharia law madness, it’s likely he won’t win too much support from the Tea Party.

The problem there is that any GOP candidate will need Tea Party support to win the White House. If Christie does get the nomination he’ll probably pick Perry or Bachmann as running mate to try and win some favor with the TPers.

That’s if he decides to run at all. Sources close to him say he may not:

Not everyone is convinced that Christie is ready to jump aboard.

Three people in direct contact with Christie issued concrete denials last night, saying he hasn’t changed his mind and is committed to staying out of the race — no matter how weak the field of candidates may be perceived to be.

Source article here.