It hurt all the more because, as recently as Monday or Tuesday, it looked like Christie might be the guy. This from a Politico story on Wednesday:

The deliberations over who Donald Trump should pick as his running mate reached a fever pitch on Wednesday, as members of his inner circle scrambled to fly to Indiana because they were increasingly convinced Trump was leaning away from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and toward New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, according to a campaign source with direct knowledge of the situation.

Christie simply had more skin in the game than Pence, who had endorsed Ted Cruz in advance of his state's May 3 primary, and Gingrich, who had slowly latched on to Trump as it became clear he would be the nominee. Christie, by contrast, endorsed Trump at the end of February, when the nomination fight was still very much in doubt.

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That endorsement had led longtime allies to walk away from Christie, throwing up their hands in exasperation at his decision. Even from the start, though, Christie's goal was clear: He was endorsing Trump in hopes of getting in on the ground floor of the building and being rewarded for it.

That he wasn't is both a) sort of predictable (Trump isn't exactly the king of the gracious payback) and b) devastating for Christie's political future.

If Trump runs and loses in 2016, Pence will be better positioned to inherit that coalition than Christie in 2020. If Trump wins, Pence will be better positioned to move into the top job in eight years time than Christie. At this point, Christie's best option is a Cabinet job for President Trump -- maybe as Attorney General.

That's not a terrible job. But, for a man who as recently as four years ago was seen as the future of the Republican party nationally, it's a pretty long fall from grace.