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TRENTON — Even before President Obama secured a second term Tuesday night, Mitt Romney supporters and commentators on the right were eager to identify reasons the Republican lost, and for many Chris Christie topped the list.

The Republican governor’s praise for Obama’s swift response rankled conservatives and Romney insiders who cringed at the image of their candidate’s most outspoken surrogate touring the ravaged Jersey coastline with Obama in Marine One. They let loose on Christie before and after the Election.

On his 13th consecutive day of storm response Wednesday, Gov. Chris Christie again fended off these Republican rumblings.

"As a party, we have to look forward to what our challenges are in the future," Christie said. "This election is over. So we have to look forward to the next challenges."

As the party figures out how to attract Hispanics, women and young people, Republicans may look toward Christie as a frontrunner for the 2016 nomination. He leads a blue and diverse state, walks the walk on bipartisanship and could steer the party away from the far right.

Former Gov. Christie Whitman, a moderate Republican who was a favorite target of the GOP’s right wing, said that’s where the party went wrong this time as they have before. Romney was forced to run to the right of his convictions, she said.

"There are a number of people who could if they are willing to fight the fight," said. "They’re going to have to fight a battle. I would hope cooler heads prevail."

In addition to Christie, other 2016 possibilities include Jeb Bush, Jon Huntsman and Marco Rubio.

"The reasons we lost the election were pretty clear when you look at the demographics of who voted," she said. "I don’t think women were at all affected by Chris Christie standing up with Obama. Quite the contrary."

Christie also batted down the criticism, pointing out that he was an early Romney supporter, campaigned for the former Massachusetts governor and delivered the keynote address. Though they hadn’t talked by mid-day yesterday, Christie said he planned to email Romney, whom he called a "good, good friend."

The governor said he was "extraordinarily disappointed" Romney lost and hopes he continues to have a voice in public life.

"But that’s going to be up to him from now on," Christie said during a press conference in Harvey Cedars. "I need to move forward to be the kind of leader that the people of New Jersey expect me to be."

Though Christie hasn’t said whether he’ll seek re-election next year, he didn’t sound like a man ready to relinquish that leadership role anytime soon.

"The next set of challenges are for the Republican Party," he said, adding: "The Republican governors are going to be the folks to lead our country."

As vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Christie campaigned for eight gubernatorial candidates and dozens of others. Republican candidates for governor did well, retaining Statehouses in North Dakota, Indiana and Utah, and picking up one North Carolina, also the only swing state Romney won with Florida outstanding. But more of the candidates he stumped for and endorsed lost than won.

Political experts say the Republicans’ relatively poor showing won’t reflect poorly on Christie, who was able to travel the country paving the way for his own political future.

"Surrogates usually don’t pay a price in the end unless they have been a constant, constant presence with a candidate on a campaign and you can’t really say that about Christie," said Jennifer Duffy, who tracks governors races for the Cook Political Report. "Hypothetically, if he were playing the 2016 game, there’s a benefit to him too. It grows his own fundraising base by establishing ties in all these states."

Still, she noted that, assuming he runs for re-election, Christie will likely take hits for his extensive out-of-state political travel.

"I would expect Democrats to use this against him," she said. "The result doesn’t matter, but political travel, being out of the state. I’m sure they will make hay of that."

Next year’s governor’s race will also get lots of attention as only one of two in the nation.

Like other moderates, many eyes will be on Christie, whom Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian and professor at Princeton University, described as a "bit of a maverick from the start".

"For 2016," he said, "part of it won’t be about the person, it will be about the policies" and Christie may be "too much like Romney and not enough like Marco Rubio".

Bush and and Christie may be fiscally conservative and somewhat moderate on social issues.

Zelizer said they’re both basically younger versions of the traditional GOP, but Christie veers away from the party in his wiliness to say what’s on his mind as he did throughout the presidential contest.

"They’ll be tons of scapegoats right now for the campaign," he said. "Christie didn’t do anything that dramatically hurt Mitt Romney. It’s not as if he dropped the ball on something. In the end he was quite loyal to Romney. He was probably pretty important to making to making Romney viable."

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