“Christie was unequivocal in saying that the Perry he had gotten to know, while a nice guy, was not suited for the presidency,” said one Republican familiar with the conversations. “That was not kept a secret. He was pretty comfortable telling people that. Major donors, other governors and the like. That quickly got back to Perry.”

Perry’s team chafed at the way Christie handled his endorsement process, in which the GOP candidates were summoned to Drumthwacket, the New Jersey governor’s residence, to dine with Christie and his top aides in hopes of winning his support. One veteran of Perry’s campaign described the ritual as “imperial.” Perry never made the trip. When Christie ultimately endorsed Romney just hours before a debate in New Hampshire, no one bothered to give a simple courtesy call to Perry-world, the former campaign aide said…

“Perry had gotten used to being everyone’s favorite governor,” said one GOP strategist who works with the committee. “Everyone loved the guy and he could raise a lot of money. And he took it hard that it didn’t translate to presidential support. When he came back on the RGA scene, he showed up, and guess who everybody’s favorite governor was? Chris Christie. A new guy with a lot of swagger and fundraising ability. And he was from New Jersey.”

“You can only have so many sheriffs in one town,” the strategist added.