Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee

Their best political moments are behind former governors Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee.
The fiesty, blustering Republican governor of largely Democratic New Jersey, Mr. Christie saw admiration for his energetic pragmatic swaggering style evaporate when it was revealed his key aides had rigged traffic on the George Washington Bridge, the most important Hudson River crossing, to punish political opponents.
He denied any involvement, but many did not believe him or felt that, at least, his confrontational bullying style had inspired his political thug allies to act out on his behalf.
The irony to Christie's being dropped from the main stage of the upcoming FBN debate is that the governor had a strong performance in the last debate, and attracted positive comments most recently about a relative who succumbed to drug abuse.
Mike Huckabee is a great friend and a solid candidate, but his ideological territory as leader of the religious right has largely been taken by Dr. Ben Carson.
With Carson's insurgent candidacy now under attack with questions about the truth or falsity of his flamboyant back story, there might be room for Huckabee to move back up.
But I think it is more likely that dropping Huckabee and Christie from the main stage of the FBN debate sounds the death knell for their campaigns. Santorum, Jindal, Pataki and Gilmore would do best to salvage some personal dignity and withdraw from the race.