when it comes to sarah palin. she is the last candidate who has a base waiting for her. however, there's been a lesson for her in recent polling, it's gone from 16% of republicans in august to say she's my choice to be our nominee down to 7% in our lating polling. which means not that they don't like her anymore, this process, especially south carolina moved up, new hampshire and iowa are about to move up. republicans will be casting votes to pick their nominee just after new year in early january. >> here's the governor. >> i've been adamant about the fact i would not run for president. my language was clear and direct no matter how many times i was asked the question. for me the answer was never anything but no. my job here in new jersey is my passion. i've always meant it when i i said i felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have this job. i'm doing a job that i love in the state i grew up in on behalf of some of the toughest and greatest people in this country. it wasn't until recently that i paused to really reflect on my decision. when you have serious people from across the spectrum, not to mention from all across the country passionately calling on you to do something as sequential as running for president of the united states, i felt an obligation to earnestly consider their advice, together with mary pat and our children, i believe i had an obligation to seriously consider what people are asking me to do. i'll always be grateful for their confidence in me. over the last few weeks i've thought long and hard about this decision. i've explored the options and listened to so many people and considered whether this was something that i needed to take on. but in the end, what i've always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. now is not my time. i have a commitment to new jersey that i simply will not abandon. that's a promise i made to the people of this state when i took office 20 months ago, to fix a broken new jersey. and when i look at what we've accomplished so far, i'm proud but i know we're not nearly done. i've made this commitment to my state first and foremost. the people sent me to trent on to get a job done and i'm prepared not prepared to walk away. i know not everyone agrees with my decision but my loyalty to this state is what it is. abraham lincoln said i'd like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives, i'd like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. that's how i feel in my heart about new jersey, i'm proud of this state and its people and i know there's still much more we need to do together to ensure the future we want for all of our children. so this is not the time to leave unfinished business for me. the stakes are too high and the sequenc consequences are too real. new jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me. let me say this, i'm grateful to the many people both in new jersey and around the country who have spoken to me over the last weeks and months. i'm grateful for their confidence in me. i'm grateful for the faith that they place in me. it's been unbelievably humbling and inspiring. i can only hope i'm able to live up to this confidence and make it count doing the job i need to do here at home. questions. brian? >> governor, you have never really closed the door on possible presidential ambition in four years or eight years from now. will you do that now or still have some interest that maybe there is -- >> i have interest in being employed in the future and i'm not going to preclude any employment in the future, whether that means being president or working at nbc. >> can you describe for us what happened that made you want to go back and reconsider? >> i didn't want to but when you have as many both really serious people come to you and tell you that you really needed to reconsider, and then all kinds of regular folks, i mean, we got fedex over the weekend at home from a farmer in nebraska to my children asking my children to sit me down and tell me that it was okay to miss their games and their concerts and their events because our country needed me more and that if they did that, they would be remembered in the history books as the people who changed the course of our country's history. we got literally dozens of letters like that to our home address from people all over the country. and i think as this all started to accumulate over the past couple of months mary pat and i decided we better really rethink this. so we did. but in the end, my commitment to the state is what overrode everything else. i asked for this job and fought hard to get this job. and my job here isn't done. it just never felt right to me to leave now. and so i rethought it because when as many serious people really earnestly come to you and ask you to do it, i think you have an obligation to rethink it but we came out in the same spot. >> no, sorry. no, you screwed around and now you're out. charlie? >> a lot of discussion about the fact that short primary schedule for florida, you didn't have the preparation in those primary states and that also that maybe the return of rick perry had given you pause? >> none of them were a factor. i have a great political team and they were ready to do whatever i wanted them to do and i have complete confidence in them. none of that was a factor. in the end the deciding factor was it did not feel right to me in my gut to leave now when the job here is not finished. i could never get by that, charlie. and i had lots of people talking to me trying to get me by it. i could never get by it. i'll go back to kevin since i had fun with them. >> thank you. is there one particular person? who was that and what was the argument? >> obviously they weren't that good. no, it really isn't. i wouldn't single anybody out. there were a lot of extraordinary people, extraordinarily accomplished people and a lot of really great regular americans who wrote and called and tweeted and you know, all kinds of stuff. no, there isn't one particular person, kevin. in the end, this decision is my decision. it's not anybody's else's decision and there was no one to convince me of it. it has to be your decision and today this decision is my decision. >> governor, how much of this decision is based on your commitment to your family as opposed to your commitment to the people of the state? >> let me dispel sthat. i've seen wild reporting about this. mary pat and the kids were completely behind me running if that's what i wanted to do. and you know, three weeks ago mary pat woke me up at 6:00 in the morning and said, if you want to run, go for it. go for it and don't worry about me and the kids, we'll be fine. so mary pat, you know, in the last number of weeks has not been an issue at all. and nor are my children. they were all great. i talked to all of them about it, obviously we talked a lot about it together as a family. they were all like, listen, dad, if that's what you want to do, it will be fun. my son andrew said it will be a great adventure for us if you decide to do it. they were all great. it really was not a family decision. in the end they laid it all on me and told me i had to decide. so i did. >> are you worried about your chance to run for president and think it will be better off --? >> no, listen, what i care most about is that the country is better. and i think the country will be better by making sure that president obama is a one-termer. so no, i don't worry about that at all. beth, i don't think you can worry about that stuff. in the end, i have a great job that i'm really committed to and where we've made great progress. i'm going to continue to do that job. whatever the future holds, the future holds, i don't think any of you, you have covered me during the campaign probably didn't think two years later in october of '11 you would be sitting there asking me if i thought i missed my one chance to run for president. >> you could have been a contender -- >> no, i mean, you can't make these decisions with any regret, marsha. how could i be regretful being governor of the state of new jersey? i have a great job and i love doing it. and i'm doing some great things here. and there's a lot of great things still to accomplish. so i don't feel any sense of regret at all. i felt like it was my obligation as i said before, given the seriousness and the amount of people who were coming to me and asking me to reconsider, to reconsider. and i did and i thought a lot about this. i spent a lot of time but in the end i came back to the same place i was in the whole last year when everyone was asking me, which was, i don't want to leave this job. i made a commitment to the people of new jersey to fix the state and do this job. and it just never felt right to me to leave. so i didn't. mark? >> why is that so important? >> any advice i have for the people running, i'll give directly to the people running. i'll resist the temptation. the reason it's so important is because the president has failed. if you want to know why it's so important, you were there, read the speech i gave at the reagan library. i think this is just an example of somebody who has failed the leadership test. and more than anything else in these jobs, what i've learned is there's no substitute for knowing how to lead. everything else you can be taught. you can't be taught how to lead and make decisions. and unfortunately, even though there are areas as you know that i support this president in, overall he's failed the american people because he's failed that absolute litmus test to be president of the united states and that's to know how to lead and decide. he hasn't done that. >> you said there's still work to be done. what happens next? >> nothing changed. you know, terry, it's just you all showed up today and i guess to have this press conference but nothing has changed. education reform is still my number one priority for the lame duck session, whatever we can't get done there will be a top priority for the next session of the legislator. all of the things that i talked about over time, nothing has changed in that regard. and you know, this has been, you know, a real interesting time for me. i continue -- i will continue to speak out when i feel compelled to on issue that's matter for the country. and the only thing i feel -- you know, you asked if there was any regret, marsha, the only regret i have is that i've given such great tv exposure to some of the local reporters, who's going to have cats on tv now that i'm out of this race? nobody is going to have katz on tv, won't be able to get on 12. that's the only regret i have. max? [ indiscernible ] >> i'm not prepared to make any endorsement today. you know, as i've said before, i'm not a halfway kind of guy. if i feel there's someone in the field who gives us the best chance to defeat the president, i'll endorse that person and work hard for that person. but i'm not in a position today to make that judgment. >> governor, as you know people have been asking you to run since the past months or so. in the past few months, it has gotten louder. why do you think that's been? and was nancy ragen monday one of them? >> why the drum beat has gotten louder? i don't know. i noticed it got a lot louder and why i decided to reconsider the decision. as far as mrs. reagan, i had a great time with her last tuesday at the reagan library. it was one of the great honors of my life to be invited by her to speak there. we had a great dinner together. whatever conversation i had with nancy ragen is between me and nancy reagan. that's why i think all of the reporting was careless. maybe some of them overheard things she was saying to me, i don't know. but whatever occurred between me and mrs. reagan is between me and mrs. reagan and nobody else. steve in the back? >> you said during your countless denials of running that to be president -- at that time didn't feel ready. did that ever factor in your decision, to you believe at this point you are ready to be president? >> well, listen. my view on that is that's not even a relevant question anymore because i've made the decision not to run. i made the decision not to run because i believe in my heart that this is where i belong, that i made a commitment here to the people of this state. i'll tell you mary pat and andrew and i were out to dinner on friday night. and i had a whole bunch of people come up and say, i really hope you run for president if that's what you want to do but i'll really miss you here. and that did a lot to reinforce what i was already feeling myself because when you get into this whirlwind a little bit, you lose your bearings a little bit. people in new jersey got me back on course over the time this has been publicly considered. yes, bob. >> governor christie, you have an election coming up in 2011. to what degree to the legislative have an opportunities for you to advance your agenda what you've done in the state so far? >> i don't see it as a referendum, i really don't because they are district by district races and given the condition of the map and all of the rest of that, i don't see it as a referendum on me. we have good candidates on the ballot from our side that i'm trying to help as much i can to the extent they get elected, they will help me to move our agenda forward more rapidly than it's moving now. but on the other hand, you know, i found a way to get some things done, even though we don't have the legislature. we'll see how we do. in the back? >> before you decided no, how far did you go into the process? did you ever get to that point? >> as i said in the statement, i explored a lot of options and listeneded to a lot of people. i made the final decision last night. >> governor, did you consider yourself a game changer or underdog? >> neither. you know, i didn't really take a lot of time thinking of it that way. i am who i am. i think there's not a lot of ardish here so people would have judged me, i suspect up or down based upon what they see. what they see is what they get. and new jersey has learned that. to the extent that we had some appeal for people around the country, i think it was probably based on that. jonathan? >>. [ indiscernible ] >> i don't -- on the first part of that, i don't think it says anything particular about the field. i'd like to think it says something about me and you know, there are folks who feel like what we've done here in new jersey in a blue state and bringing people together and getting things done is something that they like to see in the country. and i think that's what it was really all about, john. it wasn't my charm and good looks, you know that. it was the accomplishments that we have in new jersey that made people excited that maybe divided government could work, maybe leading in a very bold and direct way could forge kpoe m compromise. i've answered about vice president a bunch of times and the fact is, i don't think there's anybody in america who would necessarily think my personality is best suited to being number two. lisa? [ indiscernible ] >> sure it was. it's a no -- wait, lisa, it's a no until it's a yes. i mean, it's a no until it's a yes. i mean, what i said was i would reconsider my no and i did but the no never changed as you can tell from standing right here today. i'm saying no. it's the same kind of answer. you know, listen, i know it's your guys job to ask me this question like a dozen different ways, i'll answer it almost a dozen different ways which infuriates my staff but in the end the answer remains as it always has been. >> governor, could you shed light on the reaction to the speech at the reagan library and the reconsideration? >> we were in the midst of the reconsideration when i went to the reagan library, didn't make a difference in that regard. you know, those are things that i feel and felt for some time. and i thought that was the appropriate forum to speak out about them. but no, the speech itself or the reaction to the speech really didn't have any effect on my decision-making process. it was great to be there. i enjoyed the evening tremendously. i thought i had important things to say which is why i said them. in the end it didn't effect my decision on how to do things. >> how do you know we won't be here three months from now, six months from now on the eve of the republican national convention, when they ask you once again to reconsider? >> because i've said no. and i've spoken to a lot of people this morning and told them the answer is no so they could hear it from me personally, a lot of people that encouraged me. i think they understand that this was a long shot for them to change my mind in the first place. but i felt an obligation, given the seriousness and amount of people to are consider, in the end they didn't change my mind because i feel in my heart what i'm doing is right and that is to stay in new jersey and stay committed to the job that the people of the state gave me. again, i can't emphasize this f enough, if you're looking for something else, it's not there. it didn't feel right to me. to leave before the job was done. >> searching around? >> i think in response to jonathan's question, it's the same thing. you know -- >> if is the republican party looking for -- >> you have to let me answer first. you don't know the rules, people in the front will let you know that's not allowed. the fact is it's about what we accomplished in the state. that's why. they weren't searching, they came right to one target and it was me. it's been me for a long time. i think it's because of what we accomplished here and i'm proud of that. there's a lot more to do here. the state was pretty messed up when a took it over. we're making great progress towards fixing it but we're not there yet. so i think that's what it was about. i don't think it's a reflection on other folks. monica? [ indiscernible ] >> well, you know, i found the advice i got from other people who ran from president was very dependent on whether they won or lost. the ones who lost typically called it something like a nightmare and the ones who won typically said it was really awful. it was a slight difference but not a significant one in terms of making your decision. no one to me endorsed the joy of running for president in my experience. nobody really talked about that. echb talked about the sense of duty and obligation and honor and excitement about it. but you know, nobody said, hey, this would be a really good thing to do if you have nothing else to do. it was -- it was not characterized that way. beth? >> do you think your reconsideration -- for them and they can express their way to reconsider -- >> i think that -- i think a bunch of the people who are candidates wouldn't say something like that because they want me to think kindly of them. even if they were annoyed, i think they withheld their fire. none of them said it to me. no, i don't think it was that kind of sense. i think the people who objectively looked at this saw this was not something that i stoked. this was something i kept trying to push off but eventually just became more than i could push off without giving those folks a real serious reconsider gs, which is what i did. and now i made the judgment and that's that. >> what do you see as your role in the voice of the national stage? >> look at the reagan speech, i mean, the reagan speech is my statement on the state of our country, both at home and around the world. the things we need to do to fix it. i thought long and hard about the speech. i wrote most of it myself. and i -- it's how i feel about where our country is and the challenges we face and what we need to change it. i'll continue to speak out as i said before, i think, i'll continue to speak out on issues that really matter to me. and what i think my voice can be useful. i'm going continue to play a role in