New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sent mixed signals about whether he'd enter the Republican presidential race despite pleas from some quarters for him to run.
Speaking at the Ronald Reagan President Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Tuesday, Christie called for strong national leadership, The Washington Post reported.
Christie has said he wasn't interested in trying to claim the party's nomination for the 2012 election, despite pressure from some of the party's big-name donors to do so.
Responding to one questioner, Christie said, "Click on it now. Those are the answers," referring to a montage of clips posted at Politico.com in which he repeatedly says he is not running for the Republican nomination for president.
During the question-and-answer session, a woman pleaded: "I really implore you -- I really do. This isn't funny. I mean this with all my heart. Please, sir, reconsider. Go home and really think about it. Please. Do it for my daughter; do it for our grandchildren; do it for our sons. Please, sir, your country needs you to run for president."
Christie said he felt the "passion" the woman conveyed and "it touches me."
He said he was listening to people urging him to run and "feeling it too." But, he said, "by the same token, that heartfelt message you gave me is also not a reason for me to do it. That reason has to reside inside me. That's what I've said all along. � And so my answer to you is just this, I thank you for what you're saying."
During his remarks, Christie called on the nation's leaders to act and lead through compromise.
"When there is a problem, you fix it," he said. "That's what you do. That's what we did. That's the job we've been sent to do. And you cannot wait for someone else to do it when you're sitting in the Oval Office."
Christie's appearance at the library is part of a three-state fundraising trip for the New Jersey Republican Party.