New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s endorsement Friday of Donald Trump helps guarantee he is in the best possible position heading into Super Tuesday — and eventually into a general election battle against Hillary Clinton.

Christie’s backing grants Trump something he has long sought, whether he’ll admit it or not: political legitimacy that could make some who are uncomfortable with Trump’s candidacy willing to back him.

It’s one thing to have crowds of average Americans clamoring for Trump, a thing easily dismissed by the mainstream media. But to have a respected, sitting Republican governor of a moderate state publicly state that Trump is the best prepared to lead, best prepared to beat Hillary Clinton, and best prepared to restore American greatness could be a game changer.

Christie will prove to be an indispensible asset for Trump and invaluable surrogate on TV and on the campaign trail. Christie may have broken the ice for others as well, opening the door to further endorsements from other Republicans who might have been hesitating. Within hours of Christie’s endorsement, Maine Gov. Paul LePage declared he is backing Trump too.

“This Chris Christie endorsement of Trump is (a) real signal to GOP establishment that they had better begin thinking about Trump as the future,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tweeted on Friday.

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Christie’s long history with Trump and their families’ deep friendship, repeatedly highlighted by Christie on Friday, suggests Christie’s judgments are sincere. His support adds a human dimension to Trump’s image, something glimpsed earlier only briefly, when he appeared on stage with his children.

Christie is a political bulldozer, of course, who has gone up against entrenched Democratic and liberal interests in his home state time and time again and won. His presence reinforces the sense that Trump truly wants to change things in Washington, D.C.

“There’s no question that Chris Christie — his retail skills, his connections, his bridge to the Republican mainstream — would be a big asset for Donald Trump in a national campaign,” CNBC’s John Harwood said on Friday following the endorsement.

Christie will also be a valuable weapon in Trump’s war against Rubio for the nomination. While Christie did not run a successful campaign, few have been as effective at making Rubio sweat as has the straight-talking New Jersey governor — not that Rubio needs much help with that.

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Christie has no love for Rubio and savaged the senator during the New Hampshire debate. Trump will surely unleash his New Jersey attack dog on Rubio, a glimpse of which was already on display Friday during the endorsement event in Fort Worth, Texas. Christie took a pause from explaining why he was supporting Trump to attack Rubio for what the New Jersey governor described as his “flailing punches” against the mogul.

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“The fact is desperate people do desperate things,” Christie said. “Sen. Rubio has shown himself over the course of time to be wholly unprepared to be president of the United States.”

The carefully timed endorsement also ensures that Trump wins another news cycle or two heading into Super Tuesday, as the press gabs away about the blockbuster new alliance.

Christie denied his endorsement was in any way designed to secure a possible Cabinet position — or the vice president’s slot — under a potential President Trump. Instead, Christie said he would finish his term as governor “and then go into private life and make money like Trump.”

But Christie couldn’t help but appear vice presidential during Friday’s endorsement, as he made one of the strongest cases for Trump’s candidacy yet seen from a public figure. He artfully attacked Trump’s opponents, and even provided a measured and eloquent defense of Trump when asked if the Trump University scandal could be an issue for Trump in the same way Clinton’s private email server is for her.

That they are from neighboring states, New Jersey and New York, is no matter. It didn’t prevent a former Arkansas governor and his Tennessee running mate from riding into the White House in 1992.