Something no one has yet said about Christie's "hardball" handling of political "enemies".

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. He was "asking" Democratic mayors to literally betray the people who busted ass to elect them

I know how I would have felt if I was a local Democratic activist who helped put a Democratic mayor in office only to see that person turn around and endorse Chris Christie for governor over a Democratic candidate who came much closer to embracing my political priorities and values. It wouldn't be pretty.

You put it well, ego and power. Christie wanted those Democratic enforcements as window dressing for his self serving political narrative. He didn't need Democratic mayors to endorse him in order to win. He wanted a long list of Democratic turncoats to make a point that was always meant to register far beyond New Jersey, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the needs or interests of Garden State voters. And Democratic mayors got swept up and spit out in the wake of Christie's ambitions through no initiative of their own. If they remained true to the one who brought them to the prom (the Democratic Party) their towns could suffer at the hands of a jealous suitor who would not accept no as an answer.