( CNN ) -- It 's happened . The build-up and anxiety over whether folks like Chris Christie and Sarah Palin are going to throw their hats in the ring for the GOP presidential primary has reached critical mass . And now , the will-they-or-won't-they game has flipped from fun and energizing to damaging to the party . Christie and Palin now do conservatives more harm than good . With the question marks still lingering in the ether , and pundits on both sides of the aisle still performing their daily trapeze act -- swinging back and forth between `` yes , he 's running '' and `` no , she is n't '' -- the focus on Christie and Palin has taken valuable resources and attention away from the rest of the field . Because of those question marks , conservatives have n't been able to invest fully in the candidates who are running . They have n't been able to imagine one of them as president . They 've held back support , money and endorsements , because they still do n't know that the field is settled . And Christie and Palin are not entirely without fault . Though the bombastic New Jersey governor had been emphatic in his promise not to run for months , despite our continued speculation that he was fibbing , now his friends are saying otherwise . And he 's certainly been acting like a candidate , traveling the country for big-ticket fundraisers , speaking at the exalted Reagan Library , and telling his supporters that he 's `` hearing '' and `` feeling '' their pleas . If he really wanted to convince us he was n't considering it , all he has to do is endorse someone else . It 's really very simple . As for Palin , she 's been forthright about her contemplation , admitting that she 's thinking about it but has n't yet decided . As formidable and admirable as both Christie and Palin are , it 's reached the point where they 've both become more than just a distraction . They 're now a detriment . How sincere will it look , after all , in two months when the field is set and both are absent from it , and conservatives suddenly try to pretend that they are satisfied and enthusiastic about Rick Perry , Mitt Romney or Michele Bachmann ? Sure , we begged Jeb Bush , Marco Rubio , Paul Ryan , Chris Christie , Sarah Palin and everyone else to run before , but now we 're totally behind one of these guys . If there were ever a gift to present to President Obama , it 's the gift of obvious apathy . Time 's up , governors . If Chris Christie and Sarah Palin want to run , get in there . If not , definitively and convincingly take your names out of the running . Conservatives need to begin the arduous job of whittling down the field and picking their frontrunner . The fact that there have been five GOP straw polls in as many weeks with as many different winners is proof that these unanswered questions are creating a dangerous ambivalence among conservative voters . The breathless speculation has been fun , but now it 's time to get to work . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of S.E . Cupp .
Are Chris Christie and Sarah Palin running for president , or are n't they ? Their refusal to run definitively is damaging to the GOP , said Mr . Cupp . We have n't been able to invest fully in the candidates who are running , he said . Cupp : Palin just has to run , and Christie just has to endorse someone .