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Did Chris Christie peak too soon?

This week, the New Jersey governor鈥檚 chances of sitting in the Oval Office seem to be riding a down elevator. What's behind the slide?

Did Chris Christie peak too soon? That鈥檚 certainly possible, in the context of his presidential ambitions. This week, the New Jersey governor鈥檚 chances of sitting in the Oval Office seem to be riding a down elevator 鈥� and the lit button says 鈥済arage.鈥�

Prior to the 2012 vote, many top Republicans all but begged New Jersey Governor Christie to enter the race as an alternative to Mitt Romney. Henry Kissinger summoned him to New York to praise his ability to 鈥渃onnect with people,鈥� for instance. But Christie demurred. He told them all it wasn鈥檛 yet it his time.聽

Now many of those same establishment types have moved on. Mr. Kissinger is backing Jeb Bush. Big donors are fleeing to Mr. Bush and the ascendant Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, according to detailed stories in , , and .

The gist of these stories is the same, writes the Post鈥檚 political blogger : 鈥淐hristie is bleeding donors and activists to other candidates 鈥� most notably the former governor of Florida 鈥� as the perception grows that he is just not as well positioned for the 2016 presidential race as he (and many of them) thought he would be.鈥�

What happened? How does a hot ticket turn into chopped liver so fast?

For one, potential supporters wake up and see the vulnerabilities that have been there all along. Back in 2012, Kissinger et al were looking for someone, anyone, with charisma and force and the letter 鈥淩鈥� at the end of their official title. Today they recognize Christie鈥檚 past record of moderation on key issues such as abortion and immigration for what it is: a barrier to winning the nomination.

Just look at the numbers from a January Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa : 58 percent of Republicans in that key early caucus state labeled Christie 鈥渢oo moderate鈥� to win their vote. Only 34 percent saw him as 鈥渏ust right鈥� in his ideology, putting him dead last in the field of 16 candidates, behind Donald Trump.

Second, there are choices. Jeb Bush is pushing hard to cram himself into the role of establishment favorite. Scott Walker is suddenly sitting in the 鈥渧iable governor鈥� slot. Marco Rubio is rising. And so on.

Finally, he鈥檚 got enemies, or at least adversaries. They鈥檙e actively working to push him out. They want to make sure he loses the so-called 鈥渋nvisible primary鈥� contest for support of key donors and other party actors.

Do you think it鈥檚 a coincidence that The Washington Post and The New York Times and Politico all had stories running down Christie鈥檚 chances within days of one another? If so, we鈥檝e got an exclusive deal to sell you a section of the Garden State Parkway. Somebody big shopped that story around, making sure that all those publications knew that Christie was losing his hold on past donors such as New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.

The Bush team is a likely suspect. We still believe Bush aides leaked word of聽his January summit with Romney as way of pressuring the 2012 nominee to stay out of the race.

Then there鈥檚 the Kean family. Former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean Sr. seems to be quietly enjoying Christie鈥檚 problems. In 2013, Christie tried to engineer the ouster of state Sen. Thomas Kean Jr. as minority leader. His father helped him beat back the attempt. Perhaps now it鈥檚 time for revenge.聽

鈥淜ean family at center of Christie鈥檚 NJ troubles鈥� tweets WaPo reporter Robert Costa, who is well-connected in Republican circles.

Of course it鈥檚 early. Christie can still come back 鈥� that鈥檚 what campaigns are for.聽

But it鈥檚 not just the invisible primary that he should be worried about. Actual primaries might be a problem, too. Look of the 2016 GOP race from Huffpost Pollster. It shows Christie peaking in November 2013, when he led the Republican field with 15 percent of the national vote. Since then, he鈥檚 been on a slow and steady slide. Today he鈥檚 fifth, the choice of 6.3 percent of primary voters.