GOP Gov. Christie: 'It's put-up-or-shut-up time for our party'

New Jersey’s Republican governor Chris Christie told NBC’s "Meet the Press" today: “It's put-up-or-shut-up time for our party.”

Christie said Republicans had to stick by their election pledges to cut spending and downsize government: “We have to do what we said we’d do or be sent to the wilderness.”

The New Jersey governor argued his state is leading the way in curtailing spending: “We’ve made real hard decisions. We’ve cut spending we would have liked to have kept, but we’re broke!

“We’re showing Washington how it’s done,” he added.

Christie said there needs to be a credible plan to cut spending or “the public’s going to smell it really quickly if it’s not credible.”

Christie campaigned for candidates across the country this election cycle, including endorsing Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) for the Republican nomination in Delaware.

The governor said Christine O’Donnell’s candidacy had cost the party a Senate seat: “I think Delaware was a missed opportunity to have a really good United States senator."

Christie recently ruled himself out as a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, but left the door open for after 2013, when his term as governor expires.

“I’m going to need a job after 2013, whether it's being governor of New Jersey or something else; who knows.”