[New Jersey Democrats’] calculation was also guided by this cynical belief: If Christie sounded like a seasoned politician off the trail, then it was safe to conclude that he didn’t mean what he publicly said on the trail. It was all campaign Kabuki. Public school vouchers and merit pay for teachers? No chance of that happening. His pledge to purge the judiciary of activist judges? Red meat for right-wingers.

Snubbing the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s most powerful union? Well, he’ll come to his senses once he gets into office. Besides, we still rule the Legislature.

So Democrats hitched their fortunes to Christie’s bandwagon but now the bandwagon threatens to run them over. And the campaign Kabuki plays like a nightmare.

Charles Stile, The Record