Chris Christie began influencing public discussion in America before he took a single official action as

New Jersey's governor. His frontal challenges to the excesses of today's strongest special interest,

government itself, have already made a difference in places far from his home state. For all his

forcefulness and candor, Christie, 48, is delightfully free of the self-importance that leads so many

politicians to confuse their own interests with the public's. The largest question for our nation is which

sector, private or public, should be primary. Christie has lost no time over the past year making his

preference clear, in words and actions, in a state where government is as bad as it gets. As another New

Jersey native famously sang, if he can make it there, he can make it anywhere.