There's blood in the water.
The biggest political fallout of the Bridgegate scandal could be empowering Democrats to air claims of bullying or other shenanigans at the hands of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his cronies. Before now, they were probably too afraid to speak out.
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One of the first to come forward, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, has hit Christie where it hurts the most: on his record dealing with Hurricane Sandy.
'Sandy has been the governor's ace in the hole,' said Brigid Harrison, a professor of political science and law at Montclair State University. 'That paved the way for a theme of bipartisanship.'
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Zimmer appears to have shattered that narrative by alleging that Christie threatened to withhold Sandy relief funds to her town if she did not expedite a development project in return.
'There's something people don't like about victimizing people who have been hurt in a natural disaster,' Harrison said. 'It won't sit well with many New Jerseyans - or many people across the country - to kick someone while they're down for political purposes. This allegation is enormously damning on a broad level.'
Political experts said they don't expect Zimmer to be the last Democrat to come forward with new information about Christie's hardball politics.
And in the wake of the gridlock scandal on the George Washington Bridge, any allegations against Christie will be given credibility, experts said.
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'It's piling on at this point,' said Joe Marbach, provost and professor of political science at La Salle University. 'It's like the old cliché, the death by 1,000 cuts. Democrats who may have felt pressed upon are now more emboldened because the governor seems wounded at this point.'
As for Christie's presidential prospects, political watchers said the only thing working in his favor is that 2016 is still two years away.
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'It's still two years before Iowa or New Hampshire go to the polls,' Marbach said. 'The attention span of the public has been greatly diminished with the latest scandal of the week. That's to the governor's advantage, provided there are not a series of questions coming next.'
akarni@nydailynews.com
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