Of all the rumored and hoped-for Republican presidential candidacies, the one that baffles me most is Chris Christie. He squeaked out an election by running in an off-year, when Republicans enjoyed a huge national turnout discrepancy, and against an unpopular incumbent. He’s won legislative victories by taking advantage of the divided, corrupt, relentlessly parochial Democratic opposition in his state. But Christie is not a “political talent.” He’s an anti-talent, unpopular even in his own state, even setting aside questions of whether his Jersey-tough guy style would play well nationally, which I suspect it would not.