The Purity Trap Snares Chris Christie

Christie screwed up by getting too close to Obama during Hurricane Sandy. And some of his policy initiatives are trending very leftward, it turns out. But most of all, his banning from CPAC is pure partisan cleansing. It's hard out there for an iconoclast.

From Elahe Izadi, at National Journal, "The Real Reason Why Chris Christie Wasn't Invited to CPAC":

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was not invited to speak at the annual CPAC conference this year because he broke with conservatives on key issues over the past year, according to American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas.

Cardenas, whose group organizes the conference, wrote in an e-mail to National Journal that while CPAC was “proud” to invite Christie last year based on his record of balancing the budget and taking on teachers unions, Christie’s record over the past year is far less conservative.

“CPAC is like the all-star game for professional athletes; you get invited when you have had an outstanding year,” Cardenas said. “Hopefully he will have another all-star year in the future, at which time we will be happy to extend an invitation. This is a conservative conference, not a Republican Party event.”

RELATED: A great piece from Scott Conroy, at RCP, "Romney's CPAC Return Draws Interest, Questions."