Chris Christie as Governor: What were his ‘hits’ and ‘misses?’

If the saying is true that “a man shall be judged by the company he keeps,” then the verdict – as far as I’m concerned – is that Governor Chris Christie is courting the money.

Meaning an announcement as to his future plans might be in the offing sometime soon.

Just yesterday, after completing a whirlwind round of talk shows completing the victory lap he’d done getting Republicans elected to governorships, he sat down in New York to break bread with two billionaires - Steve Winn and Richard LeFrak.

Also there was former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The affair was described as “benign” by LeFrak.

“It was a very benign conversation, it was happy.” “It was a completely social occasion, just exchanging pleasantries,” he said.

Regardless, one can help but assume that the groundwork is being laid for a run at the White House – and that the groundwork is being laid sooner rather than later.

Which all begs the question: were one to run as the Chief Executive of the United States - having already held a position in the Executive branch of state government - wouldn’t you judge that person by his (or her) record?

In that regard, what were Governor Christie’s “hits?”

This is a subjective analysis. Your answers may be quite different than mine.

For instance, you might say that he managed to get a 2% property tax cap put in place; that he put the kibosh on the “tunnel to Macy’s basement” which would have been an extraordinary burden financially; and that he took on the NJEA in bringing about tenure reform.

On the minus side – he did pass the Dream Act, allowing children of illegal immigrants the ability to attend state colleges paying the in-state rate (a plus with Latinos but a minus with conservatives).
There’s also the reality that there are still many Sandy victims still living in makeshift shacks.

And more recently - there’s the reduction in the contribution he was to put in the public employees pension fund. (He’ll say that as governor, he’s put more back into the pension fund than any of his predecessors. Public employees still won’t buy it!)

Some might also go so far as to say his "hug" of President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. (Staunch Republicans blame that gesture in costing Mitt Romney the White House.)

I’m sure I’m missing out on a few other things.

So if you had to fill in the blanks – what are the Governor’s “hits” and “misses?”

As governor, does Chris Christie have more “hits” than “misses” – or is it the other way around?