BY MICHAEL HAYNE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

It's an election year in New Jersey, which means that South Jersey (Norcrossland) and everywhere else over the Raritan River will suddenly become a 24-7 onslaught of SuperPac attack ads in between sports programs. It's also a time where politicians suddenly become Lotharios; they wine and dine and tell you you'r the only one, until the Wednesday following election day and you're lucky if you get breakfast.

With the other worldly stature (and that's not a fat joke) of Governor Chris "Hurricane Superfleece" Christie is starting to show signs of breakage.

For example, a new poll shows that New Jersey is beginning  to slightly sour on the big man. While it doesn't appear all that likely (Sorry, Barbara Buono) that Ashbritt will really resonate with voters, it is clear that high unemployment is going to be an issue. And then there's Christie's notorious pre-hurricane brash personality of taking it to teachers and public workers. But again, it's an election year and Christie really wants to win in 2016, I mean, win reelection. So that can only mean that Christie will have to soften his stance on teachers.

During a recent Town Hall at Raritan Valley Community College, an adjunct professor directly confronted Christie on why he engages in divide and conquer politics by blaming teachers for the state's financial woes.

“I’m wondering when the rhetoric changed that teachers are part of the problem and not part of the solution,” said the professor, Alexa Offenhauer, who teaches English. (NorthJersey.com)

In the past, this is where Christie would morph into Boss Hog meets Bluto, but he mostly remained cool.

“I don’t think teachers are the problem. I think unions are the problem,” he said, drawing applause from the crowd. “There is an extraordinary divide in my experience between the attitude of the members and the attitude of many people in leadership of these unions,” he added later. (NorthJersey.com)

Offenhauer, a member of the American Federation of Teachers, didn't agree.

“The teachers are the unions. We are the same people,” she said (North Jersey.com)

Christie previously said that the teacher's union was run by "thugs". While he's had issues in the past of matter of factly brushing off teachers with forceful rhetoric, Christie appeared more subdued.