All of a sudden, "moderate" Chris Christie wants to slash entitlements? No clearer sign of his intention to suck up a lot more campaign cash, which he'll need to come back from his extremely low numbers. But I don't see any rational way he expects to get past the primaries and actually win an election with this "House of Cards" stunt:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told leading GOP policy analysts this week that he will make overhauling Medicare, Social Security and other long-term entitlement programs a centerpiece of his likely presidential campaign, according to participants in the talks.

Christie’s decision to embrace a politically risky campaign theme is central to an attempt to revive his wilting national prospects, according to people familiar with his plans.

By casting himself in the coming months as a blunt truth-teller on issues that some in his party have resisted tackling, Christie hopes to win support among conservatives who have been reluctant to back him and are unsure of his rationale for running.

"Rationale"? He don't need no stinkin' "rationale"! He's a taker, and he's going to keep taking until he's gone as far as he can go!

But voters have long been wary of attempts by politicians in both parties to cut popular entitlement programs, which account for about half of all federal spending. Christie himself has expanded Medicaid as governor, calling it “the right decision for New Jersey.”

Christie made his intentions clear Monday in a conference call with former Republican administration officials and a former senior adviser to House GOP leaders. Over the course of nearly two hours, Christie indicated that he is planning to run a campaign focused on the nation’s fiscal health and recommending sweeping structural reforms.

Yep. Just like he did for New Jersey.