If true, this would rule Christie out of the running for veep. And if it's true, it is a master stroke.

Politico:

Former New Jersey reporter Josh Margolin reports in the NY Post:

The word is going out quietly to Republican activists across New Jersey: If you're going to the GOP convention in Tampa next month, be sure to be there by Tuesday night, Aug. 28, because Gov. Chris Christie is going to be giving the keynote speech that night.

"We've been told that's the night to be there, that's when the governor is going to speak. They're saying he's the keynoter," one top party activist told The Post yesterday.

Word that Christie might be keynoting has been circulating in recent days, and it has a logic to it. He has a similar fire-up-the-band approach on stage as, say, Rudy Giuliani, who gave the keynote in 2004 when the convention was in New York City. The convention is also being programmed with heavy input, sources say, by Romney co-admaker Russ Schriefer, who worked on Christie's 2009 race and who the governor is said to like.