When he was elected, he said, "there were not a whole lot of people who thought that New Jersey was going to be the state that led the resurgence of Republican values across America."
But that's exactly what has happened, Christie said.
"It's not about the power of my persuasion; it's about the power of my ideas," he said. "And it's . . . time in America again for the power of these ideas and principles."
Reaching further than he had recently, he suggested that even President Obama was following his lead when he used the phrase big things in his State of the Union address last month, shortly after Christie had christened the phrase in his State of the State address.
But the difference, Christie said, is that he believes pension reform, fiscal responsibility, and an overhaul of the education system are the "big things," not Obama's goals of high-speed rail and high-speed Internet, which are the "candy in life."
John Meko, executive director of Foundations of the Union League, which ran the Lincoln Day celebration, said Christie's speech was more political than typical addresses from Lincoln Award winners.
"Chris Christie has obviously become, very quickly, a national figure," Meko said. "The message that Christie gave today, and what he's trying to do in New Jersey, is certainly one that resonated among the membership."
The nonpartisan Union League, founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support Lincoln and the Union, now has 3,200 members, many of whom are well-heeled business and civic leaders.
Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Corbett are previous Lincoln Award winners, as is former Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat.
