Last night I walked out of a debate between Congressman Tim Bishop (NY 1)...

[TreasonousBastard]

and Lee Zeldin, his Republican challenger.

The first thing I noticed was maybe a hundred Zeldin signs outside of Polish Hall, where the debate was held. I though there as an agreement not to plaster the place with signs, but I guess I was wrong. A lot of Zeldin t-shirts, too. Then, during the debate, the Zeldin supporters were going nuts. Everything he said got wild hoots, screams, and applause. A few people seemed enraged at Bishop and called him out. It got to the point where they threatened with expulsion.

I was at another debate in the same place a week ago between two guys running for a state office, and while the crowd was almost as big, it was much more civil and balanced.

So, what was different about this one? What caused the forces of rage and anger to come out to a Congressional debate?

That the audience was 100% white might be a hint. Riverhead has a sizable black population, and it is politically aware, but nary a one showed up. I can't speak for them and their absence, but I sure would like to know who is working the "Angry White Guy" angle. They were out in force last night.

[Half-Century Man]

1. Astroturfed ? nt

[elzenmahn]

4. Possibly....

...this has shades of the town hall meetings for years ago, when the Teabillies were out in force, hooting it up.

[tk2kewl]

2. there's a lot more racism on LI than most people realize

[TreasonousBastard]

3. The Klan was big here in the 20's and it's seeing a revival...

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/kkk-recruiting-hamptons-article-1.1915500

The better thing now is that most people have no use for this crap. It hasn't gone away, but it's far from mainstream and more people turn the bastids in than sign up.

But, still too many hate in the shadows.

[JohnnyRingo]

5. I'm not from there....

...so I can't opine on local voter sentiment, but I'll bet this wasn't the first time those people got together. It has all the earmarks of a staged stunt.

Since it only happened at this debate, it was likely coordinated by the candidate's office.

[monk3007]

6. Zeldin Campaign bused in supporters.

The RiverheadLocal, host of the debate, posted a blog with the details of what happened.


[link:http://www.riverheadlocal.com/2014/10/10/riverheadlocals-hijacked-congressional-debate/|

[Rhiannon12866]

7. That appears to be their strategy

During the 2010 congressional election in my district (NY-20), they did the same thing, bused in dozens of red shirted disruptors to support the Republican candidate. Strangely, they attacked the Democratic incumbent for voting in favor of health care reform.

Welcome to DU!

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Same thing happened here...

They attacked Bishop so mecilessly at one campaign stop in Greenport back then that he stopped publicizing his stops. You got a notice he'd be in the area and then that AM you got where and when.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. It's possible it was the same group, or the same organizers

They were easy to spot since they all wore red shirts and hats and I saw the buses parked outside. This was the single debate between Democratic incumbent Scott Murphy and tea party challenger Chris Gibson. Despite numerous warnings (League of Women Voters), they did a lot of shouting and booing and seemed to be particularly upset about Scott's vote in favor of health care reform, despite being mostly senior citizens. They weren't too thrilled with his support of repealing DADT, either. It was particularly suspicious since this took place on Scott Murphy's home turf. And it was hard for me to take since I was working for him.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. That makes sense-- it looked too planned to be just locals.