Chris Christie and Rand Paul Love to Fight

On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie unleashed the latest in a series of sick burns on his likely competitor for the GOP 2016 presidential nomination, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie unleashed the latest in a series of sick burns on his likely competitor for the GOP 2016 presidential nomination, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. You see, Paul asked Christie to attend a New Jersey rally with him and Senate-hopeful Steve Lonegan next week. But it's also his Christie's wife's birthday. So Christie brought up the conflict in a press conference, stating, "In a choice between Mary Pat Christie and Rand Paul, it’s no choice for me, so I’ll be with Mary Pat."

Christie isn't even tempted by a possible Paul hangout. It's not a choice! If it seems like this feud is getting ridiculous, it's because it is. Christie even released a Youtube video (right) of his statements, just so everybody knows how little he'd like to hang out with Paul.

And this isn't the first time Christie's turned down Paul's advances. The feud began this summer, when Christie said libertarians are "very dangerous" in July, and Paul responded that the governor was out of touch and exploiting victims of 9/11. They continued trading barbs on cable news and in press conferences, as Talking Points Memo explained a month ago in the feud's early stages. Paul said New Jersey got too much pork in Hurricane Sandy aide. Christie said Kentucky was the true recipient of pork-barrel spending. Paul made a fat joke about Christie, calling him the "king of bacon."

In August, Paul invited Christie to have a beer, but Christie said he was "too busy." Christie quipped, "I'm running for re-election in New Jersey, I don't really have time for that at the moment. If I find myself in Washington, I'll certainly look him up." Then, at the Republican National Committee meeting in mid-August, Christie made it clear he was "in it to win." He then took a thinly veiled shot at Paul, saying, "I think we have some folks who believe that our job is to be college professors. Now college professors are fine I guess. Being a college professor, they basically spout out ideas that nobody does anything about. For our ideas to matter we have to win."

Paul seems to want out. He's repeatedly said Christie started the feud, something he explained on Fox News with what is arguably another fat joke: "The party is big enough for both of us. It’s big enough for a lot of different Republicans."

And so the back-and-forth continues. Christie and Paul are both trying to position themselves as the next face of the GOP — Christie's the social moderate focused on national security, and Paul's more of a Tea Party libertarian. Despite Paul's earlier call to "kiss and make up," it doesn't look like they will before the 2016 primary. The chances of reconciliation brews seem slim  — as each sick burn gets them both a little more attention.