What if…

Imagining President Christie

(Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)

I love alternate history, so here’s a story for you. After flirting for a bit with the idea of running for president, Donald Trump decides to prove everyone in journalism right and not actually pull the trigger.

Ivanka persuades him it would be bad for the family brand, and Roger Ailes agrees to work with him on some kind of politics-themed media venture that will make a lot of money. The race appears to be shaping up as a coronation for Jeb Bush, though Marco Rubio is out there making the case for a more youth-oriented approach and Ted Cruz stands as an apostle of the true conservative faith. But then New Jersey governor Chris Christie starts making some interesting moves — he’s landing body blows from the right on the Florida Amnesty Boys while also making the case that it’s time for the party to stop losing elections over Social Security and Medicare.

“If Hillary Clinton takes office, it’s going to be the end of this country as we know it,” he says on th…