The Note: Chris Christie, Born to Run

— -- THE NOTEIf there's one takeaway from Barbara Walters' Chris Christie interview last night it was this: the man is setting up to run for president in 2016.

The buzziest example, of course, was his pushback against Walters' question as to whether he was "too heavy" to be president.

"That's ridiculous," said Christie. "I mean, that's ridiculous. I don't know what the basis for that is."

When Walters' asked about his statement last year that he wasn't "ready" to be president, Christie responded that he wasn't ready for the campaign--a very important distinction. Not being "ready" to be president suggests deficiency in experience--not ready to campaign is simply a recognition of the difficulties of setting up a presidential operation.

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And, while many potential 2016ers are quick to dismiss talk of a presidential run, Christie does not bat it down. When asked how he'll feel about running in 2016, Christie simply responds: "I have no idea how I'll feel."

Not exactly a Shermanesque statement.

But perhaps the most telling example of Christie's desire for a 2016 run: he was visibly torn when asked by Walters' to choose between being able to be a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band or be POTUS.

"You could be a member of of the E Street Band or President of the United States, which would you choose?" posed Walters.

Christie laughed, paused and then said: "I think at the moment, at the moment, I'd want to be a member of E Street band. A few years from now, who knows."

Call us crazy, but we're not holding our breath that the governor is going to take up guitar lessons anytime soon.

More from the interview: http://abcn.ws/UV2Owg

NOTE IT!ABC'S RICK KLEIN: It's not just a matter of big business speaking. The question is whether it can actually say something meaningful in time to resolve the fiscal cliff standoff. Corporate America has gotten quite good at lecturing Washington about trying to do its job, and few institutions deserve such lectures more. But getting the parties--both parties--to move enough this late, off of long-sacred positions, will take more than platitudes about the need for compromise. We're starting to hear specificity about tax rates and breaks. But if the cliff is truly as terrifying to business as we're being told, the pressure has to build, and fast.

MORE FROM BARBARA WALTERS' INTERVIEWS:CLINTON ON LIFE AFTER THE CABINET, HER DARKEST MOMENT IN THE JOB. Hillary Clinton made one thing abundantly clear in her interview: she is definitely leaving the Cabinet as soon as a new secretary is sworn in and a smooth transition occurs. "It sounds so simple, but I've been, as you know, at the highest levels of American and now international activities for twenty years, and I just thought it was time to take a step off … maybe do some reading and writing and speaking and teaching," she told Walters. Her darkest moment as secretary of State happened this year when terrorists in Libya attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11th, killing four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Clinton called the attack the "worst time" in her tenure. "It's something that is certainly terrible," she said. "We take risks in the work we do. The people who do this work are often in very threatening environments, whether it's our military or our civilian people around the world, I have just the most extraordinary admiration for them." http://abcn.ws/UEzFkINOTED: CLINTON'S HAIRSTYLING ROUTINE. "I do not travel with any hairdresser, or anybody, to help me do that, and I'm not very competent myself. I've been admitting that for years, which should be obvious to everyone," Clinton joked to Walters in a conversation that she referred to as "girl talk." "And so it became simpler to just grow it so that I can pull it back, and I can stick rollers in."

Read All of Today's 'Note' - ABC's Political Tipsheet