KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin dubbed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie “a great conservative,” but carefully avoided a question about his possible presidential aspirations during a brief interview with Yellowhammer Wednesday.

“He’s a great conservative. I think he’s also a man who likes to work both sides of the aisle too and that’s effective, but yes I do think he’s conservative,” Fallin responded when asked whether she believed Christie could identify himself as a conservative within the GOP.

Fallin addressed a luncheon at Midwest Republican Leadership Conference in downtown Kansas City Friday.  Several times in her speech, Fallin pointed to the 30 elected Republican governors as templates for how the party can rekindle its popularity on the federal level.

But in the interview, she declined to say whether she thought the next GOP presidential nominee should be a governor.

With regards to Christie, Fallin showered him with only warm remarks.

“I think Gov. Christie’s name has certainly been mentioned many times, he’s a strong leader, he’s proven to been able to lead during very difficult circumstances during Hurricane Sandy.  He’s certainly a man that doesn’t back down from his principles and he likes to shake things up and get things done.  He’s a great friend of mine,” she said.

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