There’s been no love lost between New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie and the state’s leading daily newspaper,The Star-Ledger, since Christie took office.

Chief editorial writer Tom Moran frequently takes the governor to task, with Christie-like bluntness, for a host of alleged shortcomings. Christie, in turn, berated Moran at a news conference and has refused to meet with the paper’s editorial board.

The governor’s supporters had good reason to expect that the Newark-based daily would recommend the election of Christie’s Democratic gubernatorial opponent, Barbara Buono,
in its anticipated endorsement editorial published yesterday 

As expected, the top half of the piece set up readers with observations like these:

"The property tax burden has grown sharply on his (Christie’s) watch. He is hostile to low-income families, raising their tax burden and sabotaging efforts to build affordable housing. He’s been a catastrophe on the environment, draining $1 billion from clean energy funds and calling a cease-fire in the state’s fight against climate change.

  Photo: Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger

Then, the paper yanked out the rug, by recommending that voters give the governor a second term.

Why? We won’t spoil it for you. Read the full editorial here and the tirade it set off in the public comment section that followed the endorsement.

Care to voice your opinion on the endorsement? Feel free. Use the opinion box below.