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New Jersey鈥檚 Republican governor Chris Christie is not going to get an invite to speak at this year鈥檚 Conservative Political Action Conference, according to and lots of other media outlets. Looks like the CPAC organizers still consider Governor Christie an apostate for praising President Obama鈥檚 superstorm Sandy recovery efforts near the end of the 2012 campaign.

And they鈥檙e not the only ones. Lots of conservatives look at Christie鈥檚 every action with suspicion. A couple of days ago, they noticed that he sat next to first lady Michelle Obama at a National Governors Association dinner at the White House. Never mind that Christie wasn鈥檛 the person in charge of place cards.

鈥淭he slobbering love affair between GOP Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Team Obama continues to blossom,鈥� wrote the conservative on Sunday. 鈥淪moochie, smoochie.鈥�

Hmm. Is this a political problem for Christie? Looks like he鈥檚 now the Nelson Rockefeller of the 21st century 鈥� the moderate Republican whom the right most loves to hate.

In the short run, it鈥檚 good for him. He鈥檚 running for reelection in New Jersey this fall, and given the state鈥檚 Democratic proclivity, every insult he gets from the right builds his Independent Republican brand. There are some 700,000 more Garden State Democrats than Republicans, after all. The math there is easy to do. If we were more cynical than we are, we might even say that Christie asked CPAC to stiff him, at least until next year.

Yes, he鈥檚 already wildly popular in-state. That doesn鈥檛 mean he isn鈥檛 still working on shoring up his vote. Are you writing this down, potential-GOP-Senate-candidate Geraldo Rivera?

The CPAC snub might benefit Christie in the longer run, as well. As commentator Allahpundit notes on the conservative Hot Air website, the conservative group might as well be tossing the plus-size New Jersey gov into the briar patch. (Close your eyes and envision that for a moment.)

鈥淐hristie was never going to run as the conservative choice in 2016 and lord knows he鈥檚 not going to run as a conservative to get reelected in New Jersey.... CPAC鈥檚 unwittingly helping him burnish his brand as the country鈥檚 most formidable centrist Republican. Expect him to get lots of mileage out of it in interviews over the next month,鈥� .

Yes, but that only helps him if he can win the GOP nomination, right? To do that, he has to run well in Republican primaries, many of them closed to independents and other swing voters. That鈥檚 one reason that Mitt Romney swung right, away from his policies as governor of Massachusetts, in his own run. Remember when Mitt called himself 鈥渟everely conservative鈥�? That was at CPAC. They鈥檝e invited him to speak, by the way. That should be, uh, interesting.

So look for Christie to start sounding more conservative and declining the seat next to the first lady beginning in, oh, late 2014. That鈥檚 if he wants to run for the Oval Office of course 鈥� and he may not.

Unlike Mr. Romney, Christie may not have to become 鈥渟evere鈥� in his adherence to conservative doctrine. A little bow in the direction of the right might do. Given that the GOP has lost four of the past six presidential elections, including a 2012 race that many Republicans thought they would win, electability might rank higher on the list of qualities esteemed by conservatives the closer 2016 approaches.聽