MONTGOMERY - The candidates have already smothered each other in the worst, most appalling way, each trying to destroy the other's reputation, utterly - and so heading down the homestretch, you won't likely hear any onstage references to Bertrand Russell or the works of Teilhard de Chardin.

What you get is scrappy and combative, and a devilish oh-you-want-to-go-there-ok counterpunching attitude, in an atmosphere probably mostly furnished by the occupant of the White House.

"We know Jack here," says Somerset County Democratic Chairman Peg Schaffer.

"And we know Mikie," she adds.

The references are to Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for Governor, who once served this very district as an assemblyman, and Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee in this swanky roadside Asian lounge crammed with Democrats.

"We know Mikie's a badass, and Jack's a jackass," declares Schaffer, and the remark brings down the house.

Democrats in this Central Jersey county - Somerset - project significant confidence, convinced Ciattarelli has a fundamental political problem, namely the condition of having to squirm under Trump's thumb.

A tall, thin figure in a designer sweatshirt with cursive letters stitched in the cloth alights in the room.

Someone does a double take.

It is, in point of cold fact, Governor Phil Murphy here, campaigning for Sherrill.

"Does he look unpopular to you?" Schaffer wants to know, pointing at the governor, who's mobbed.

Indeed, they like him here.

Grinning winningly, Murphy doesn't look like he's limping out of office.

A couple of Sikhs enter the room. Big Indian crowd. The campaign aims to connect with a key demographic.

A massive tour bus with a helicopter plastered on its side bellyflops into the bar parking lot.

Inside, Montgomery Mayor Neena Singh works the tables, gelling with the standing room only crowd.

"With everything going on with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], Indians want the security of knowing they have someone in office like Mikie Sherrill, who's going to respect the law," Singh tells InsiderNJ.

Then Murphy has the microphone.

"When I became governor, this entire county was red," he says.

Now the entire stage is shaking under the weight of multiple elected officials - all Democrats - from every level of government, standing with arms calmly behind their backs or at their sides.

"I'd love to debate Jack," Assemblyman Roy Frieman tells InsiderNJ.

He's tired of hearing his Republican LD-16 predecessor say Democrats blew up New Jersey. "Jack's math doesn't add up," says the assemblyman.

A roar emanates from the crowd. Murphy has the microphone. He recognizes the fact that Mikie Sherrill has materialized in the room. They hug. Moments later, introduced as the next governor of New Jersey, Sherrill grabs the microphone. She lays down her stump speech. Opportunity. She had it. She wants it for everyone. She flew a helicopter. She wants others to do what they want to do. Claps sound. Public service on the one side. Trump running a worldwide extortion racket on the other. Costs. Economy. Pocket books. Opportunity. Savings. Anxiety. Opportunity. People like it. They feel good here.

"I don't know," one jittery Dem tells InsiderNJ, cringing amid good feelings. "When I talk to Republicans, they act like Jack's going to win. Then look at this - does this look like she's going to lose?"

An insider sits at the bar with a playful smile on his face, as if the rhetoric means nothing at this point. The speeches. The crowds. The energy.

"We're running up the score," someone counters.

But he's playing with his phone, the insider, looking at early numbers, convinced he knows the score. "It's over," he proclaims, barely heard, with the speeches finished now and the pleasant bar throb breaking to higher decibel levels, equal parts joy, defiance, and euphoria.