Prepared for a pension fight

While it's a quiet summer at the State House, a brawl over employee benefits is set to erupt.

Gov. Chris Christie is back sparring with his old foe, the public worker unions.

He kicked off a new town hall series last week, 'No Pain, No Gain,' to drum up support for his plans to overhaul the pension system.

This fight makes sense for Christie, especially as he mulls a White House run, because he can claim he is a fiscal conservative and show he will not back down from a fight.

Both could go a long way as he fights through a potentially crowded GOP primary field.

Here in New Jersey, the pension and benefit issue could lay the groundwork for life after Christie, as Democrats attempt to secure key voting blocks and re-take the Governor's Office when he leaves.