Changing of the guard: Is Guardian that good or was Langford that bad?

It should have been a blow-out.

In Howard Eskin parlance, it was a "stone cold mortal lock."

It should have never happened, but it did.

Don Guardian, a white, openly gay, Republican, knocking out Lorenzo Langford, the black incumbent Democrat on Election Day, to become the next mayor of Atlantic City, a city where Democrats currently occupy all 9 seats on city council.

The question that many found themselves asking in the days after Guardian's Election Day coup, was either; is Guardian that good or had Langford become that bad.

The answer appears to be a little bit of both.

For one, you will not find a more affable Atlantic City politician than the 60 year old Guardian, who diligently worked the streets in all six of the city's districts while campaigning, while the 58 year old Langford seemed content on mailing it in.

And why shouldn't he?

If Vegas Vic himself had a set a line on Langford v. Guardian, it would have likely opened at odds even greater than the 42 to 1 that Mike Tyson had going into his fight against Buster Douglas in Tokyo on February 11, 1990.

In the wake of Guardian sending Langford's political career into what Mike Tyson himself once referred to as bolivian (oblivion to the rest of us), Atlantic City's next mayor has found himself two heavyweight political allies to help make his transition into City Hall silky smooth:

Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney.

Both men have done nothing to hide their disdain for Langford and have gone out of their way to sing Guardian's praises

To Langford's credit, he never backed down from either man or any fight for that matter, and even told Matt Lauer in the days after Hurricane Sandy on The Today Show that he wanted to confront Christie "mano a mano" to discuss their differences.

Christie never answered that challenge, and instead of New Jersey's political super fight of the century, Langford got KO'ed by a longshot in what should have been a tune up fight, but turned out to be his Tokyo.

And we have a new era in Atlantic City politics…