Chris Christie for President Starting to Catch On?

While a frequent flurry of Sarah Palin sound bites and Michael Steele gaffes dominate the hype surrounding the Republican party's leadership void, many point to New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie as a serious potential leader of the GOP.

Since his first budget address on March 16th, conservatives have applauded Christie's adamancy of spending cuts, and they particularly admire his battle with the state's teachers union over $820 million in state education cuts.

Conservative editorial pages in The Weekly Standard lionized Christie as a "rock star," and the Wall Street Journal canonized him with a Ronald Regan comparison.

To meet the proposed education cuts, Christie demanded that teachers take a one-year pay freeze and begin contributing to their pensions and health benefits. The teachers union disregarded the demands, so the governor urged people to vote against local school budgets. Last Tuesday, voters rejected 316 of 541, or 58 percent, of the proposed budgets, an unprecedented rejection rate.

Conservative columnist, George Will, supported Christie's demands on teachers' pay in a Washington Post column, and also commended the governor for closing a $2.2 billion gap with spending freezes and cuts.