By Scott Conroy - October 9, 2013

Though he carefully avoided saying so directly, Gov. Chris Christie all but confirmed on Tuesday night one of the worst kept secrets in New Jersey: He is planning to run for president in 2016.

But before he does so, the heavily favored incumbent must first win re-election next month against his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono.

During a debate Tuesday with his challenger, at the end of a lengthy exchange about whether he plans to finish out a second term if re-elected, Christie appeared to acknowledge that only an unforeseen development would prevent him from throwing his hat into the 2016 ring.

“I can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said. “I can do this job and also deal with my future, and that’s exactly what I will do.”

Christie is aiming to rack up a huge margin of victory against Buono in order to bolster his credentials as a conservative Republican who can win over Democrats and independents in a deep-blue state.

According to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, he is doing just that: Christie leads his opponent by a 26.4 percentage points.

Asked point-blank by the debate moderator whether he intends to run for president, Christie at first laughed and joked that he hadn’t anticipated the question.

“The fact is, people have been talking about me running for president in this state since 2010,” he then replied. “They all said I was going to do it in 2012. I said I wouldn’t, and I didn’t. And the fact is, after 2017, I’m going to be looking for a new job anyway.”

Christie said that he intends to keep doing the best job he can in New Jersey but declined to rule out higher ambitions -- in stark contrast to his position before the 2012 cycle, in which he repeatedly dismissed the possibility.

“You know what, the people of New Jersey don’t expect me to,” Christie said of declaring his 2016 intentions. “What they expect me to do is to do my job.”

When the moderator noted in a follow-up that Christie was asking voters to commit themselves to supporting his leadership for four more years without receiving a mutual vow in return, the tough-talking governor said that voters should judge him on his performance over the last four years.

“I give my promise to them that I will work as hard as I’ve worked for the last four years to give them the best state they possibly can -- a state that I’m extraordinarily proud to be the leader of and a state that we know is doing better and can do even better,” he said. “But I don’t think anybody in America or in the state of New Jersey expects anybody three years away to tell them what they’re going to do. Life’s too long, Christine. I won’t make those decisions until I have to.”

In response to her opponent’s comments, Buono asserted that Christie has been catering to conservative interest groups at the expense of standing up for issues like gun control, Planned Parenthood funding, and gay rights, which are more in line with the state’s left-leaning electorate.

“You know, Governor, it doesn’t bother me that you’re running for president,” Buono said. “What bothers me is how you’re running for president.”

Christie shrugged off such charges, which thus far have not resonated with New Jersey’s voters.

“Listen, the only person obsessed with 2016 on this stage is Senator Buono,” he said. “She spends more time talking about that then she spends talking about time that she’s going to spend, if she ever did become governor, making this state a better place.”