Christie points to N.J. success as model for GOP

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that the lesson to be drawn from his resounding victory in his re-election bid is "govern and...show up."

"It's about doing things, accomplishing things, reaching across the aisle and crafting accomplishments," Christie said when asked what the Republican Party could learn from his win. "And ours, I think, are significant. " He referenced the creation of 143,000 private sector jobs, a business tax cut of $2.3 billion, reforming the teacher tenure and pension systems, and reducing overall spending.

He said that in the coming year he'd like to continue education reform by expanding the use of charter schools and building more school choice into the system for parents who want to get a voucher to move their children out of failing schools and into private or parochial institutions. He'll also look to lower income taxes.

Though Christie is widely believed to beeyeing a presidential bid in 2016, he was coy about his ambitions. He said his job for 2014 is to run the state of New Jersey and the Republican Governor's Association, which he is set to lead starting in December. The job will boost his profile as he travels around the country to raise money and campaign for his fellow GOP governors.

But he also has a few messages for Republicans in Congress. Asked by CBS' Norah O'Donnell whether Congress should pass immigration reform to help the GOP improve their standing with Hispanic voters, Christie said he hoped they would.

"I think that they have to fix a broken immigration because it's what's right for our country and what's good for our economy," said Christie, who won 51 percent of the Hispanic vote in New Jersey. "That's what they should be doing, that's what people are frustrated by, that there are obvious problems that need to be fixed and that the people in Washington, both parties, are not fixing these problems, nor is the President and that's the problem."

He also said President Obama needs to apologize for making a misleading claim that people who liked their insurance plans would be able to keep them once Obamacare was implemented, which has been false for millions of people.

"When you make a mistake, you should own up to it and apologize for it and I think people give you credit for that. The fact is that the President didn't tell the truth," Christie said. "It turns out not to be true that people can keep their insurance policies no matter what, that they can keep their doctor no matter what. And we need to confront that issue and the President needs to deal with it in a head-on way."

Mr. Obama apologized to people who were being dropped from their plans in an interview with NBC News last week.

"I am sorry that they, you know, are finding themselves in this situation, based on assurances they got from me," he said.