Chris Christie's Fall Campaign Tour Revealed

Guy Benson | September 08, 2010 1:35 PM

Last week we broke the story that (increasingly popular) New Jersey Governor and rising GOP star Chris Christie will be hitting the campaign trail across the country this fall on behalf fellow Republicans. Today, Politico obtained a partial list of Christie's planned stops, which includes Iowa.

Yes, that Iowa:

There, he’ll boost gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad — which is sure to amplify the Christie-for-president buzz, although he's emphatically insisted that he is not making a White House run.

According to aides, he will make a Midwestern swing, visiting Michigan to assist gubernatorial hopeful Rick Snyder, Illinois for Republican governor candidate Bill Brady, and Wisconsin on behalf of the eventual GOP gubernatorial nominee after the state's Sept. 14 primary.

One day after his Sept. 22 Whitman event in California, Christie will head to New Mexico for GOP gubernatorial nominee Susana Martinez, a current district attorney who’s made busting government corruption a central theme of her campaign.

That visit will be followed by two days in Ohio campaigning for former congressman and current gubernatorial nominee John Kasich.

After that, Christie will attend two events, Oct. 11 and Oct. 19, for another former prosecutor — Tom Corbett, the Pennsylvania gubernatorial hopeful and current attorney general.

He's shrewd to mostly target gubernatorial races. This strategy allows him to be an effective surrogate--offering informed remarks about the task of responsibly governing a state--while currying favor with potential future members of the RGA.

Rick Snyder and Bill Brady ought to take copious notes during Christie's appearances in their states; his governance offers a compelling model for how to walk an unwieldy, union-dominated state back from the brink.

"Emphatic insistence" aside, Christie's Iowa sojourn is intriguing. That race is...not competitive. Even if CC isn't plotting a 2012 run, he may be subtly introducing himself to the Hawkeye state's electorate and making a friend who may come in handy down the road.