Christie: Mitt hasn't asked me to be VP

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Mitt Romney hasn't asked him to be his vice-presidential running mate in the 2012 U.S. presidential race.

"It hasn't been offered, so there's nothing to consider," Christie said yesterday in Paramus. "There are certain personalities appropriate for being vice president. I don't necessarily think mine is one of them."

Christie, 49, endorsed Romney for president Tuesday in New Hampshire before the Republican presidential debate. On Oct. 4, he had said he wouldn't join the presidential race.

Christie said he is a "member of the team" and plans to campaign for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.

A Quinnipiac University poll found, meanwhile, that New Jersey voters gave the governor a 58 percent approval rating. Just 38 percent said they disapprove of the job he is doing. In August, the split was 47 to 46 percent.

Although 84 percent backed Christie's decision to stay out of the presidential race, two-thirds of voters, including three-quarters of the state's Republicans, said it was very likely that Christie would have won the GOP nomination had he launched a campaign.

"Overwhelmingly, his New Jersey neighbors thought . . . Christie did the right thing in walking away from the presidential race -- even though most voters think he could have won both the nomination and the White House," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"They think the governor's brief run as Republican flavor-of-the-week was good for New Jersey, and most aren't bothered by his out-of-state travels," added Carroll. "And there's nothing like some national attention to get the folks back home to appreciate you a little more. We don't know if it's cause and effect, but Christie's approval rating, especially among women, is way up."

Christie also achieved a new high in a Monmouth University/NJ Press Media Poll, with 55 percent of voters praising him and 37 percent disapproving of his job performance. That poll also found an especially sharp increase in support for Christie among women.