N.J. guv: Obama dividing nation

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie charged yesterday that an indecisive White House had deepened the nation's economic pain, and he accused President Barack Obama of preparing to divide the country to win re-election.

The Republican governor, who has dismissed encouragement that he enter the 2012 presidential race, also warned in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library that the nation's credibility abroad was damaged by troubles at home.

He didn't spare Congress: In a scathing indictment of Beltway politics, he said the failure to compromise and Obama's lack of leadership, had set the country dangerously off course.

In Washington "we drift from conflict to conflict, with little or no resolution. We watch a president who once talked about the courage of his convictions, but still has yet found the courage to lead," Christie said.

"We watch a Congress at war with itself because they are unwilling to leave campaign-style politics at the Capitol's door. The result is a debt-ceiling limitation debate that made our democracy appear as if we could no longer effectively govern ourselves," he said.

The speech -- delivered at a shrine to the 40th president, with former first lady Nancy Reagan in the audience -- came during a three-day national trip in which the governor is raising money for Republicans and networking with party rainmakers.

Christie used the Reagan stage to extend his influence in a party that views him as a rising star. His remarks could stoke a fresh round of speculation about his White House ambitions, but his brother was the latest confidant to tamp down talk of a presidential bid.

"I'm sure that he's not going to run," Todd Christie told The Star-Ledger of Newark.