Garden State Patriot

Former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is about to throw his support behind Chris Christie. Interestingly, Wally Edge at PolitickerNJ seemed to think this would help Romney in New Jersey should he run again for President – as expected – in 2012.

Mitt Romney’s decision to pick a horse in the New Jersey Republican gubernatorial primary likely accomplishes two things: it boosts former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie’s standing among conservatives, and it strengthens Romney’s chances of picking up organizational and fundraising support in New Jersey if he seeks the 2012 GOP nomination for President.

I disagree. In fact, I find this to be a calculated gamble by Romney that could easily backfire; a gamble probably not worth taking.

Mayor Lonegan has loyal grassroots support among conservatives in this primary. He is ahead of Christie by a wide margin among conservatives, many of whom are dubious of Christie’s conservative credentials.

In fact, Romney fought hard last year during his presidential bid to convince conservatives that he was one of us. Many conservatives, myself included, voted for him because he was the closest thing we could get to a true conservative last year.

So, for Romney to inject himself into this race and back Christie he is more likely to have turned off conservatives than inspired them to vote for him in the next presidential primary in this state. As a Lonegan supporter I sure as heck won’t forget that Mitt Romney did not back the true conservative in this race. It’s one vote he will lose if he follows through with his endorsement tomorrow.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude! and Red County.