I know some of my colleagues will never forgive Chris Christie for torpedoing Marco Rubio, and then legitimizing Donald Trump in the 2016 cycle. I’ve been a Christie skeptic in the past, too, and I would prefer a Ron DeSantis type who is willing to defy business interests that are treading on the future, and is more skeptical of our involvement in Ukraine.

But Christie deserves his spot on the stage. He’s been running, by far, the most noteworthy campaign. Other candidates are waiting for the dynamics to change. They want scandal, time, exhaustion, and the debates to wear down Donald Trump’s lead. Christie is trying to create those dynamics by frontally criticizing Trump, getting under his skin, and then surviving the blowback being rained down on him on Truth Social from Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster.

I also think Christie’s persona — funny, grieved, prickly — is better for the party in the age of Biden. Christie has presence. While there might be a different sort of health worry for him, there’s no doubt that he’s sharp, energetic, and ambitious.