Unlike in billionaire land, campaigns have a budget—one that Christie seemed to have no problem straining for the pleasure of his company.

“We sort of caved into his needs because we just needed him,” the high level aide said. “It got to the point that, by the end, we wouldn’t use him, because the effort you had to go to—he would throw a conniption fit if the food wasn’t right or the plane wasn’t right.”

The aide added, “we didn’t use him with any kind of regularity because he was just too much trouble.”

And when Christie would catch onto the campaign’s reluctance to deploy him, several Romney aides said, he would personally call Romney to vent.

“He got the hint he directly called Mitt to complain that he was not being used as a surrogate,” one aide said.

But it wasn’t just Christie’s high pricetag that made him a burden. He also seemed to have a talent for kicking the campaign when it was down.