One of the pleasant byproducts of Dan Balz's new book about the 2012 campaign is that, unless they're all on mushrooms, the Democrats who had even the faintest stirrings of a man-crush on Chris Christie will now understand quite clearly what the guy is about. He's got an ego bigger than his waistline, and the only time he remotely cares about any progressive policy is when half his state is being blown out to sea.

Ultimately, Christie was given the keynote addressat the 2012 GOP convention - a coveted speaking slot reserved for rising stars. There, his "big" personality came out in a big way: when organizers told Christie that they were scrapping a three-minute introduction video before his speech due to time constraints, the governor insisted they reconsider. When they pushed back, according to Balz, Christie told a member of the production team "to ask the director if he had ever heard anyone say 'f***' on live television, because that's what he was about to do if the video didn't run." After another sharp exchange, Christie said he wouldn't deliver the speech if the video didn't run. Romney's convention team leader, Russ Schriefer, intervened, instructing the director to play the video.

Play my masturbatory video or, quite literally, I will fuck up your convention. I wish they'd called his bluff. His speech was a catastrophe anyway. The odd "fuck" thrown in there couldn't have hurt. But I was more intrigued by the collection of human offal that was encouraging the Jersey Barrier to run.

Balz reveals how pervasive the effort to draft Christie into the race became during the summer of 2011, when figures including former President George W. Bush and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger contacted the popular New Jersey Republican, entreating him to throw his hat into the ring. In addition to Bush and Kissinger, former first ladies Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan and billionaire businessman David Koch also pushed Christie in the direction of a run.

It's past time for any association with the Kochs to be made as poisonous in our politics for Republicans as ACORN was made poisonous to Democrats. (More so, because the Kochs have done actual damage.) Chris Christie's national ambitions seem as good a place to start as any.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io