Mitt Romney presses on as Chris Christie fever rages

Right now, it’s not easy being Mitt Romney. Every time he turns around, conservatives are looking for someone new to embrace, someone Who Isn’t Him. This week, following Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s partial implosion at the Orlando, Fla., GOP debate, the hot ticket is Chris Christie.

On Wednesday, Romney had his game face on when asked about Christie, who continues to deny he’s running even as calls for such a candidacy from some in the Republican establishment grow louder and louder. Initially, Romney suggested to the crew on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the media were just stirring up trouble, but soon he became more Zen about the whole thing.

“That’s your business. You’ve got to fund some excitement, you’ve got to have some intrigue,” Romney said, adding that Christie was likely just mustering support for his 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial reelection campaign. “Who knows? Maybe he decides to get in. I can’t control what other folks are going to do.”

To that end, Romney told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that he isn’t looking to shift his strategy.

“I know I could get a quick bump at the polls by saying some outrageous and incendiary things, which draw a lot of attention,” he said, “but in the final analysis I think people will move toward the person they think will get the economy going again and who understands the challenges America faces.”

Although Perry’s struggles have had some in the party casting about for a new Savior of the Month, were Christie to jump in, it’s likely he could harm Romney’s prospects as much as anyone’s. Both would chase after the same kind of Northeastern and Midwestern Republican voter who might be less interested in Perry.

During the interview, Romney returned to his persistent theme: banging President Obama on his handling of the economy.

“He doesn’t understand how the private sector works,” Romney said. “He doesn’t understand why a big business like GE decides to build a factory outside the U.S. He thinks if you have cash on your balance sheet that means you are going to hire people. No, you hire people if you have customers.”

He said that Obama, with his recent turn toward a middle-class-versus-millionaires strategy, is trying to “separate the haves from the have-nots.”

And he suggested his time as governor of Massachusetts was a political asset because it showed he could work with Democrats -- something that Obama hasn’t done with Republicans, he said. (And Perry hasn’t had to do in Texas.)

“I had to learn how to find people across the aisle who shared some of my principles and views,” he said.

That’s the electability argument. And it’s one Romney is likely to return to as long as polls continue to show him as the only GOP contender who runs neck-and-neck with the president.

Despite his talk of the high road, however, Romney’s campaign is still getting down and dirty when it comes to Perry and his stance on immigration. His campaign released a new video that lumps Perry’s support of in-state college tuition for the children of illegal immigrants with Obama and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. The video features O’Malley (who could be running against Christie for the White House in 2016, but there we go, getting ahead of ourselves) praising Perry’s position on tuition.

Here’s the new anti-Perry spot: