Christie was able to move rapidly partly because he spent the time between his election and his inauguration on an exhaustive transition. Almost weekly, he announced a key cabinet appointment. By Jan. 22, 2009 - just three days after his inauguration - his team issued voluminous reports detailing changes in the way New Jersey would govern itself.
Corbett seems to be wasting no time, either. He announced his transition team Wednesday, and it included a list of well-known names in Pennsylvania politics, some associated with former Gov. Tom Ridge's administration.
And, Corbett said Wednesday, he plans to have a state government reform plan his first week in office. That, too, seems taken from the Christie playbook.
Once in office, Christie seemed to know exactly where the power switches were.
He issued executive orders to freeze rule-making for 90 days and vetoed minutes of quasigovernment authorities when he didn't like their spending policies, such as a $19 million construction payment on Burlington City High School.
When he didn't have the legal authority to change things, such as getting the state's largest teachers union to freeze wages and concede to other givebacks, Christie used his bully pulpit to draw public scorn.
He cut school and municipal aid, and to offset the blowback from a potential increase in property taxes, he came up with a "tool kit" to help towns and school districts cap spending. He cut every state department by as much as 9 percent, and put government workers on furlough.
Because Christie plugged that budget hole without raising taxes, he raised enough eyes around the country to catapult him from Jersey pol to national figure.
He ran through Trenton so fast it was hard for his opponents to keep up.
