Not that he wants to.

Despite months of insisting that he will not enter the race, the New Jersey governor has become an increasingly busy presence on its fringes. Conservative politicians and talk-show hosts are still clamoring for him to jump in, and he has agreed to meet this month with a group of fund-raisers from Iowa who want to persuade him.

While Republican consultants say he would be a leading contender, and journalists keep asking whether he will run, Mr. Christie keeps finding new and ever more provocative ways to say no. The Republicans who have considered running want his imprimatur, lining up for dinner dates at the governor?s mansion in Princeton.

Candidate or not, Mr. Christie is a force to reckon with in the contest, someone who political analysts say could influence his party?s nomination, or make a splash as a choice for running mate ? another prospect he rules out. The governor shows no sign of fading into the background, and by his own admission, he loves the attention.

?I?m a kid from Jersey who has people asking him to run for president,? he said last week in a radio interview, laughing off the idea that he had ?become tired and annoyed? by the subject coming up time and again. ?I?m thrilled by it. I just don?t want to do it.?

His denials are striking enough to stoke the fire, generating still more media coverage. He once told reporters that ?short of suicide, I don?t really know what I?d have to do to convince you people that I?m not running,? and on another occasion told an interviewer that while he would not run, ?I already know I could win.?

Last week, he posed a tart comparison with his Democratic predecessor, observing that ?a few years ago, nobody from Iowa was coming to New Jersey to beg Jon Corzine to run for president of the United States.?

Since January, Mr. Christie has played dinner host to a string of potential presidential candidates: former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts (who followed with a $25,000 contribution to the New Jersey Republican Party), former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, before Mr. Barbour decided not to enter the race. A date with another, former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, was scheduled for last week but had to be postponed, and there has been talk of a meeting with the former House speaker Newt Gingrich.

Governors, who usually control their state party machinery, are always courted by presidential candidates, particularly in the states with the earliest contests, like Iowa and New Hampshire. But for contenders to make the pilgrimage to New Jersey ? not a pivotal primary state ? with aides in tow, for face-to-face sessions with a governor long before any votes are cast, is something else.

?There hasn?t been any parallel to this, not in my memory,? said David P. Redlawsk, a political science professor at Rutgers University. ?He?s a hot commodity, and the candidates clearly think his endorsement would be significant. He can attract crowds and raise a lot of money. I wouldn?t be surprised if they?re thinking about him as a potential V.P. candidate.?

But the meetings have included no vice presidential talk, or even much direct appealing for the governor?s support, according to people who have attended some of his sessions with candidates, and who discussed them on the condition of anonymity so as not to alienate those involved.

They say Mr. Christie listens to each candidate?s presentation, and asks questions about policy and political strategy. And though the governor, a former federal prosecutor, has said that presidential hopefuls must be able to handle tough questioning, these people say the tone of these exchanges is relaxed.

His advisers say that while Mr. Christie relishes the attention, he does not court it.

?I don?t think people understand how much more often we say no to invitations than we say yes,? said Mike DuHaime, the governor?s chief political consultant.