Ed Rollins: ‘It’s never too late for Gov. Palin’ to jump into 2012 race

Republican strategist Ed Rollins on Monday downplayed the latest surge in rumors that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will jump into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and instead argued in favor of another possible candidate.

Christie “ought to stay running New Jersey,” Rollins said on Fox News’s “Kilmeade and Friends” radio show.

“If I were advising him, I would tell him not to think about [a presidential bid],” Rollins said. “I can’t imagine Gov. Christie spending the next four or five months in the winters of Iowa, traipsing to the places he’s got to go in order to be a viable candidate.”

Rollins, who was Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) campaign manager in the presidential race until earlier this month, said the only rumored candidate he believes is still viable is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“It’s never too late for Gov. Palin,” Rollins said. “She plays by different rules.”

Rollins predicted that Palin would be competitive in Iowa and South Carolina. If she wins one of the three key early states — the other state being New Hampshire, which he thinks will go to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — “she’d be in the game,” he said.

“I would argue at this point in time, with [Texas Gov. Rick] Perry not moving forward as much as people thought, she could jump in there and fill that void,” he said.

The most recent GOP debate in Florida was widely regarded as a fumble by Perry, who went on to lose the Florida Republican straw poll to businessman Herman Cain. Rollins noted that Cain always does well in debates, but likely won’t go on to win any of the early states.

“Perry was never known as a great debater,” Rollins added. “I would not count him out at this point.” 

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