Christie says Garden State going in the right direction

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivered his State of the State address in Trenton Tuesday with an aperitif of  presidential aspiration.

Even in a politically trying year, Christie said, things still moved forward in the Garden State during 2014.

“Growing our economy, creating jobs, reforming our criminal justice system and improving some of most challenged cities, such as the city of Camden,” he said. “We’ve done it because a majority of us care more about our state than we do about scoring partisan political points.”

Before the speech, Christie gave an off-the-record talk to reporters only from national outlets. He touted his record dealing with budget problems in a way that would help a potential presidential bid.

“We didn’t do it the Washington way by raising taxes, we did it by cutting spending by shrinking government and by fundamentally reforming the way government operates,” he said.

Christie says he will announce soon whether he is running for the White House.