The Media Takes a Bite Out of Chris Christie

If you search Google News for "Chris Christie Overweight," you get 169 results. Some articles ask "Is New Jersey Governor Too Overweight to Become President?" while others proclaim "Christie's weight is irrelevant."

Though it's ludicrous to say that that Mr. Christie's weight problem makes him ineligible for the presidency, it's pretty clear from the avalanche of editorials on the subject that it's not wholly irrelevant. Indeed, if he does decide to run in 2016 or 2020, I'm sure there will be even more articles on the subject, and no end of jokes about him storming the White House vegetable garden.

Many columnists have said that Mr. Christie's weight proves that he is undisciplined and therefore unfit to run the country. This is ridiculous. After all, President Obama only just quit smoking this summer, and there was never an outpouring of editorials about how his need for nicotine constituted a lack of discipline.

Some people (especially those who spend a lot of time watching the Fox News channel) would say that the disparity in how the media has treated Mr. Christie's weight and Mr. Obama's smoking is due to its liberal bias. More likely, it's the rarity of seeing a politician who is overweight that set columnists off. Indeed, there hasn't been an overweight president since Howard William Taft took office 100 years ago weighing in at over 300 pounds.

But while it is ridiculous to say that Mr. Christie's weight impinges on his character, it is worth discussing his heaviness in the same context as a candidate's age.

During the 2008 presidential race, John McCain's age - 72 at the time - received some attention because it meant that he was more likely to become incapacitated in office. The same holds true for Mr. Christie, as his current weight endangers his health and potentially exacerbates other ailments (he was hospitalized in July after an asthma attack).

Voters would therefore be prudent to consider whether a Christie presidency might be shortened by illness. But any other discussion of his weight makes for worthless commentary, and Letterman can certainly do better than the jokes he made about Mr. Christie's weight in his "Top 10" list last Tuesday.