WEST DES MOINES, IOWA -- Undeterred by the cold or by a steady drizzle, some 600 Iowans came out this morning to hear Mitt Romney, along with his surrogate and enforcer, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, rally the troops before Tuesday's Iowa caucus begins the 2012 primary campaign in earnest.

Romney, as he has done all week in Iowa, set the stakes for 2012 high, telling the crowd the race was not about just changing occupants of the oval office, but also about "saving the soul of America."

No one wages that fight better than Christie, said Romney; the New Jersey governor returned the favor.

"As we always do every four years, America's watching Iowa and Iowa's gonna be, gonna be the folks who are gonna help to start this process to get us going to make sure that the Republican Party nominates the very best person to take on President Obama in November," Christie told the shivering crowd. "Now when you look at that stage in these debates, I think you've gotta come to the conclusion I've come to: there is no person better qualified by his experience and his character to take on Barack Obama and to lead the United States of America than Gov. Mitt Romney"

Christie also jokingly warned the crowd that there would be consequences if they did not support Romney at Tuesday's caucuses. Christie said that he would return to Iowa "Jersey Style," a statement with different, but equally terrifying meaning, to fans of "The Sopranos" and "Jersey Shore" alike.

And while Romney largely focused his message today on sweeping patriotic themes and his own "business guy" credentials, the pugnacious New Jersey governor made certain to dispense some harsh words for President Obama in his closing thought.

"President Barack Obama came out to Iowa three years ago and he talked to you about hope and change.  Well let me tell you, after three years of Obama, we are hopeless and changeless and we need Mitt Romney to bring us back, to bring America back," Christie said.

 WEST DES MOINES, IA-- On his maiden trip to Iowa as a surrogate for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was knocked off message tonight by a group of protestors who briefly hijacked his rally here.  

The protestors, who represented a group called Occupy Iowa Caucus, chanted anti-Wall Street slogans as they were led outside by Romney staffers, then escorted off the property by police.   "We're used to dealing with jokers like this all the time," Christie joked as the protestors were removed, "Don't worry about it."

The New Jersey governor quickly recovered, saying that any appearance of his without a "YouTube moment" would be incomplete, and that the protestors would likely be performing at a local hotel after the event. He also said their anger was misdirected, and that they should have been more upset with the White House, not him.

"Their anger is rooted in the fact that they believed this hope and change garbage."

Quickly back on message, Christie looked to make his case for Romney here in Iowa, a state where the latest polls show the former Massachusetts governor trailing Newt Gingrich by double digits.

Christie was asked by an undecided voter to tell her a story about Romney he hadn't told anyone yet -- one that might earn her support. Christie answered by launching into a story about Romney visiting Christie's New Jersey home in the wake of the governor's decision not to run for president. He said Romney's connection with his children helped seal the deal and earn his support.

"Every time they came in, he would call them over and would be having side conversations with them. The reason I tell you that is because you can’t fake that. You know, politicians can be taught to fake a lot of things, you can’t fake that," Christie said. "This is someone who I know has an extraordinary heart. He loves his wife. He loves his children. And he has absolutely no hesitation in showing that affection over them. Now, that’s not what you see on TV all the time, but I sat in my backyard for 2.5 hours and watched him talk to my children."

Christie wrapped up his story by saying he knew Romney was "somebody who I’d be proud to represent my country."

"First and foremost, when you look at candidates, say, 'Is this the kind of person who's always going to make me proud in the Oval Office and never have to worry will embarrass America? That I'll never have to worry will do something that will just make me ashamed? [Romney] won't."

Twice, Christie was asked about serving as Romney's vice president. The New Jersey governor tried on several different denials -- saying he loved the job he was in, that others would be better suited, and that he made a promise to his state. 

"You saw me deal with those Occupy people," Christie joked. "Do I look like somebody's VP?"

But he did not discount the possibility outright, saying it would be "impolite."

"I wouldn't bet on Romney-Christie at the moment," Christie said, wrapping up the topic. "But one never knows."

NJ Gov. Chris Christie blasted President Barack Obama as a "self-interested" and "timid" politician who has sat on the sidelines rather than offer a steady hand to a country that is "starving for leadership."

Speaking at a luncheon of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the onetime-possible-presidential-candidate-turned-Romney-backer used characteristically tough-talking rhetoric to respond to  the president's speech yesterday in Kansas.

Christie said that Obama "gave us false hope" on economic matters and "suffers from the need to always be the smartest person in the room" on foreign affairs.

The New Jersey Republican blamed Obama's hands-off approach to the congressional supercommittee on "his own self-interested political timidity."

And he asserted that the president, who yesterday aligned himself with President Teddy Roosevelt, to stop urging other Americans to "meet the moment."
"Get out of your chair and start doing the hard work yourself to make America a better country," Christie said to applause.

Christie did not explicitly mention his preferred candidate, Mitt Romney, but spoke about the need for "true leaders" and decried "blow-dried" political soundbites.

"The era of focus group tested blow-dried answers needs to end. But it cannot be replaced by an era of hyperbole and irresponsible answers," he said after briefly referring to the 2012 presidential contest as "a circus."

Christie heads to Iowa later today to stump for Romney in West Des Moines.

ORLANDO -- Jokingly introduced as the "shy and retiring" Chris Christie by Republican Governor's Association chairman Bob McDonnell, the New Jersey governor and prominent Mitt Romney endorser once again showed he was anything but -- slamming President Obama and defending the man he is supporting for the Republican presidential nomination.

"Every time there was an opportunity to provide real leadership where the things would be difficult to do, where it's not a guaranteed layup or a guaranteed photo op, he walks," Christie said of the president. "Real leadership is not what you see in the White house right now. As I've said before, I think it’s a sad day in our country's history to see a bystander in the Oval Office, and that's what we have."

Christie was among 27 Republican governors to attend the RGA's meeting here this week, but his position as perhaps Mitt Romney's most prominent supporter -- and one of only a handful of governors to endorse any presidential candidate -- made him the center of attention today.

"He's the one guy who has performed consistently," Christie said, when asked about a perceived lack of enthusiasm in the GOP base for his favored candidate. "If you define enthusiasm as being at 30% one day and 8% two weeks later. I call that schizophrenia, not enthusiasm. What Gov. Romney has shown over time is that he has a strong and steady core of supporters. I believe that that type of steadiness and that type of consistency is going to lead to him being our party's nominee."

The New Jersey governor, who briefly considered making his own run for the White House, weighed in on several strategic elements of Romney's campaign, including how the former Massachusetts governor should deal with the surging Newt Gingrich. His advice? Don't engage.

"If Gov. Romney engaged every person who had a temporary rise in the polls, that's all he'd be doing," Christie said. "Gov. Romney's job is to lay out his hopeful, optimistic vision for the future of this country and his critique of the last four years, not to engage every person who has, like I said, a temporary rise in the polls."

The outspoken Christie also took a question from a reporter about Romney's demonstrated preference for not taking questions from reporters.

"Everybody has got their own style, and I certainly am not going to try to make anybody something that they're not. Because if they acted that way, it wouldn't come across legitimate or genuine. I am who I am. People ask me questions and I try to answer then as directly and as quickly as possible, and I just think that's the better way to go when you're in public life," Christie said. "Because if you avoid the questions, they're eventually going to catch up to you anyway, so why not answer them and get them out of the way and move on to what you want to talk about."

Despite the vast majority of Republican governors attending this event remaining unaligned in the presidential race thus far, Christie said he was not actively recruiting new endorsers for the Romney campaign.

"I think my role as an endorser is to help Governor Romney in whatever way he asks me to. I'm not sitting around, you know, as a recruiter. I've got other things to do. I'm the vice chairman of this organization." Christie said. "Everybody knows that I'm with Mitt and if in fact they have some questions they'd like to get clarification on or encouragement, it's not like I'm not visible around here. They can talk to me, but I'm not sitting here with my Mitt button on trying to bring everybody into the fold."

Christie did disclose one of those things Gov. Romney asked him to do -- he'll be campaigning in Iowa on Romney's behalf next week, yet another sign that Romney is playing to win in the Hawkeye State.

BATON ROUGE, La. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie warned a small crowd gathered Thursday evening in a hangar at the Baton Rouge Airport that he would be “watching from New Jersey” for voters to re-elect Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal this fall.

But working the rope line after the event, the New Jersey Republican ignored multiple questions from reporters about a potential bid for the White House, the subject of much speculation after his speech Tuesday at the Reagan presidential library in California.

Still, on Thursday, Christie did more than simply voice his support for the governor of the Bayou State. “If it were, you know, up to Bobby and I, we could focus all our time right here in our own states here in Louisiana and New Jersey,” Christie said. “But we can’t do that, because America needs to get better too.”

And at times he sounded like some of the Republicans now on the presidential campaign trail. “If you’re looking for leadership in America, you know you’re not going to find it in the Oval Office,” he said.

The event was billed as welcome rally for Christie – who later in the evening joined Jindal again for a fundraiser at a private home, with tickets going for as much as $100,000.

At the airport, Christie ended with a warning to Louisiana voters.

He said, “I expect a huge win for Bobby Jindal on election night, and if I don’t get it, if I don’t get it, you don't want me coming back here with a little Jersey attitude on me. You’re going to have a problem if that happens."