Josh Haner/The New York Times 
 
 TAMPA, Fla. — Chris Christie, the sharp-tongued governor of New Jersey, on Tuesday extolled Mitt Romney as an exceptional leader willing to speak hard truths to a nation weary of President Obama‘s policies and ready to make a much-needed change. 
 
 “It’s time to end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office and send real leaders to the White House,” Mr. Christie said, according to prepared remarks. “America needs Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and we need them right now.” 
 
 In delivering the keynote address at the Republican National Convention, Mr. Christie demonstrated his trademark bluntness — crediting his mother for teaching him how to speak “without much varnish” — but he did not lash out in personal ways at Mr. Obama, hardly mentioning the president by name. 
 
 Instead, Mr. Christie reserved his sharp words for a tough contrast between the Republican approach to solving problems and a Democratic approach that he said would continue to fail to turn around the American economy and the country’s broken political system. 
 
 He accused Democrats of ignoring the truth about the country’s economic difficulties and of wanting people to be coddled by “big government.” 
 
 “Their plan: Whistle a happy tune while driving us off the fiscal cliff, as long as they are behind the wheel of power,” Mr. Christie said. 
 
 Mr. Christie had been considered a top prospect to be Mr. Romney’s running mate. He also briefly considered running for president himself this year, but ruled it out, concluding that he was not yet ready to assume the office. 
 
 The Romney campaign picked Mr. Christie to deliver the keynote address for his reputation as a straight-talking governor who has little patience for those who question his resolve. 
 
 But his aggressive style, which has led critics to brand him as a bully — he has called people “stupid” and “idiots” — was not on display in the hall. Nor was his anti-union fervor, which has emerged through his battles with the labor movement in his state. 
 
 Mr. Christie did offer some sharp jabs at Mr. Obama that whipped up the partisan crowd in the hall. 
 
 “It takes leadership that you don’t get from reading a poll,” Mr. Christie said, directing his remarks at Mr. Obama. “You see, Mr. President – real leaders don’t follow polls. Real leaders change polls.” 
 
 But primarily, the speech offered a challenge to the country to change course from an administration that he said was letting the nation’s economy drift. He said the status quo must change, and he praised Mr. Romney as the right man to take the country in a different direction. 
 
 In describing the current crisis with the political system, Mr. Christie did not mince words or spare many, even those in his own party who he said had contributed to growing debt, a slowing economy and an inability to get anything done. 
 
 “Our leaders today have decided it is more important to be popular, to do what is easy and say ‘yes,’ rather than to say ‘no’ when ‘no’ is what’s required,” Mr. Christie said. “It’s been easy for our leaders to say not us, and not now, in taking on the tough issues. And we’ve stood silently by, and let them get away with it.” 
 
 Drawing on his two years as New Jersey’s governor, Mr. Christie said the nation could do better. He said he had learned to work across the aisle with Democrats — a claim that many in the other party would dispute. 
 
 He said that national politicians like Mr. Romney and his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, must be willing to tell the hard truths to the American people about the future of popular entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security. Voters will reward them for it, he said. 
 
 “If you’re willing to hear the truth about the hard road ahead, and the rewards for America that truth will bear, I’m here to begin with you this new era of truth-telling,” he said. ||||| Mitt Romney may be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee and Paul Ryan the ­running mate, but Chris Christie takes a back seat to no one in the GOP. 
 
 The New Jersey governor was once a possible rival to Romney. Although he insisted that he didn’t think he was ready to be president, Christie had to keep swatting away speculation and encouragement to jump into the race at a time when the party was still learning to love Romney. 
 
 Christie had a tough assignment on Tuesday night. He was the wrap-up speaker on opening night of the Republican National Convention and had the misfortune of appearing after Ann Romney, whose testimony in behalf of her husband connected with the audience, and then the visit to the convention hall by the nominee. 
 
 But it was Christie who helped inject some much-needed energy into an arena that had been surprisingly subdued through the early evening. He came on stage punching the air. He clapped as he approached the lectern, returning the welcome he received from the delegates as if to say: Wake up, Republicans. He demanded that they stand up, and they did. 
 
 The governor is a politician and an entertainer. On Tuesday, he was on better behavior at the Tampa Bay Times Forum arena than he sometimes is when he is on the loose in his state. He was more dialed down than over the top. 
 
 But Tuesday’s stage was the biggest of his political career, and as he spoke he was being measured not just as a surrogate for the Republican ticket but as part of the GOP’s rising generation and a possible future presidential candidate, depending on what happens in November. 
 
 His assignment was to make a case for Romney, something he has done repeatedly nationwide but never to an audience as large as he had on Tuesday. He offered up the trademark combination of Jersey pride, humor, direct talk and sharp words aimed at President Obama — things that have made him a folk hero to conservatives. 
 
 The speech was as much about Christie and what he has done in New Jersey as it was about Romney, his record and his vision. It was also a story many other Republican governors tell, through their own experiences, as they provide a model of the kind of conservative governance — cutting spending and taxes, challenging public employee unions and shrinking government — Christie said Romney would bring to Washington. 
 
 He argued that it’s better to be respected than loved — which is one way to persuade voters to back a Republican nominee who trails the president in likability. He said the campaign should be about big things — just what the Romney team has tried to argue at the same time it has been thrown off stride by smaller matters. 
 
 He called the election a test of whether Americans are ready to hear the truth about the nation’s future and he said he is confident that those who challenge the voters will be rewarded. He said his record in New Jersey proves that point. 
 
 “The disciples of yesterday’s politics underestimated the will of the people,” he said. “They assumed our people were selfish. . . . Instead, the people of New Jersey stepped up and shared in the sacrifice. They rewarded politicians who led instead of politicians who pandered.” 
 
 Christie framed the contest as one of ideas and said Democrats are on the wrong side of the debate. “I know this simple truth and I’m not afraid to say it,” he said. “Our ideas are right for America and their ideas have failed America.” 
 
 He saved his criticism of Obama for the end of his speech. The president, he said, should spend less time reading polls and more time trying to shape public opinion. “Real leaders don’t follow polls,” he said. “Real leaders change polls.” 
 
 Romney and the Republicans, Christie said, would do that in Washington. “It’s time to end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office and send real leaders to the White House,” he said. 
 
 In so many ways, the New Jersey governor is the antithesis of the Republican nominee. Christie the politician is the direct opposite of Romney — a bluff, brash New Jersey prosecutor who likes nothing better than to verbally attack his attackers. Romney is modest and reserved, and has attacked rivals in debates but more often shows his sometimes awkward politeness to the people he meets on the campaign trail. 
 
 Christie has reveled in his reputation as a blunt-talking governor, rarely passing up an opportunity to tell an audience about his most recent confrontations — whether with Democrats in the New Jersey legislature or constituents who challenged him. Romney has found it difficult to talk about himself or bring undue attention to his actions. It is a measure of how opposites attract that Romney wanted Christie to make a case for him in Tampa. 
 
 Still, the governor is no mere sidekick. He still can’t go far without someone asking about his presidential ambitions. On NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday, Matt Lauer asked, “A lot of people look and say this may be the moment that he launches his bid for the next nomination. Is there truth to that?” 
 
 The answer was not definitive. “I doubt it,” Christie replied, “ ’cause I think Mitt Romney will be at the convention in 2016 being renominated for a second term. And so then you’re talking about 2020 — long, long way away.” 
 
 Before that, he had to deny a report in the New York Post that said he had turned down the vice presidential nomination because he didn’t think Romney would win. 
 
 At some point, Christie may be able to stop batting away speculation about his aspirations and begin to act on them. That could be soon or not so soon, depending on what happens in November. He may be his own man, but for this time and place, he played the role he was assigned. 
 
 For more Dan Balz columns, go to postpolitics.com.
– Charismatic New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last night ripped into the Democrats and the "debacle" of ObamaCare, and hailed a presidential candidate ready to "talk hard truths" and make tough decisions to cut costs to restore the nation to economic health. The Democrats "believe the American people need to be coddled by big government," and will "whistle a happy tune while they drive us off a fiscal cliff," he told a wildly enthusiastic crowd in his keynote address at the Republican National Convention. "They believe in teachers unions, we believe in teachers. Our ideas are right for America, theirs have failed America. America needs Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and we need them right now." As his speech wound up, Christie called conventioneers to their feet, saying: "I'm here to begin with you this new era of truth telling. Tonight we stand up for Mitt Romney." Christie launched his speech with a tribute to his late mom, the second speaker—after Ann Romney—to pointedly court the female vote. In his family, "my dad was just a passenger," quipped Christie. "My mom was in the driver's seat." He repeatedly called himself "my mother's son."