Chris Christie Has A Very Bad Saturday

The Times covers Governor Chris Christie's very bad day:

ORLANDO — A swing through Florida proved no sunny retreat for Gov. Chris Christie on Saturday, as well-organized protesters hounded him outside a Republican fund-raiser here, a powerful ally in the New Jersey State House rebuked the governor’s office and new allegations emerged that his administration tried to intimidate a New Jersey elected official.

Mr. Christie’s trip, which was supposed to showcase his political resilience after the rockiest period of his governorship, was overshadowed by claims from the mayor of Hoboken, N.J., Dawn Zimmer, a Democrat.

In a television interview on Saturday, she said that two high-ranking aides to Mr. Christie had threatened to withhold money for Hurricane Sandy recovery to her hard-hit city if she did not support a real estate development that the governor wanted built in her jurisdiction.

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Soon after the interview aired, Stephen M. Sweeney, a Democrat, the president of the New Jersey Senate and a key ally of Mr. Christie’s, issued an unexpected rebuke to the governor’s office.

Calling the allegations “extremely disturbing” and promising an investigation, Mr. Sweeney said that Ms. Zimmer’s experience, combined with the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge, “suggest a pattern of behavior by the highest ranking members of this administration that is deeply offensive to the people of New Jersey.” 

Mr. Christie was treated to a partisan assault in Florida, where Democrats waved placards calling him a “bully,” telling him to “go home” and, in a reference to the gridlock on the George Washington Bridge, declaring that their own “traffic is bad enough.”

Mr. Christie shunned public appearances in Florida, where he is raising money for Gov. Rick Scott, a fellow Republican.

Instead, the New Jersey governor was whisked into an event at the Spanish-style Country Club of Orlando in a caravan of S.U.V.’s. They arrived an hour behind schedule.

Not exactly a glorious start to Christie's national GOP fundraising career.

This is only going to get worse for Christie.

If Zimmer, once an ally of his, felt safe enough to go public with her allegations and now Sweeney is ready to stick the shiv in his "key ally," then Chris Christie's got some real trouble on his hands.

There will be more and more allegations to come because Christie is a dirty guy with a dirty past and the only thing that kept that stuff from the news cycle was the fear people had that Christie would retaliate against them if they went public.

It seems that fear is now dissipating.

A bully without his fear doesn't have much left in his tool shed to use against those he's bullied - and Chris Christie is fast looking like a bully with an empty tool shed.