Will Too Much Love From Trump Be a Bad Thing for a Long Island Congressman?

[elleng]

SETAUKET, N.Y. — When he took office in 2015, Lee M. Zeldin wasted no time in carving out a reputation as a conservative firebrand in Congress, taking caustic, hard-line positions against the Obama administration and for Israel.

The next year, when Donald Trump ran for president, Mr. Zeldin became an ardent supporter, establishing a relationship that has since paid dividends for the Republican congressman from Suffolk County, N.Y., on Long Island.

Mr. Trump has twice visited Long Island to bring attention to the problem of MS-13, a transnational gang that has terrorized the area, and highlight the need for tougher immigration laws.

When Mr. Zeldin kicked off his re-election campaign in June, two former Trump White House officials — Sebastian Gorka and Sean Spicer — were there. Mr. Trump was not, but he has since endorsed Mr. Zeldin, saying in a Twitter post last month that he was “doing a fantastic job.”


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Congressman Lee Zeldin is doing a fantastic job in D.C. Tough and smart, he loves our Country and will always be there to do the right thing. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement!

1:34 PM - Sep 26, 2018
67.2K
22.6K people are talking about this

The question, however, is whether too much love from Mr. Trump will be a bad thing for Mr. Zeldin.

His Democratic opponent, Perry Gershon, is a first-time candidate, like many of the Democrats challenging incumbent Republican House members in New York.

Only two of the races statewide are considered tossups; most of the newcomers fall in the long-shot category. Political prognosticators characterize the Zeldin-Gershon race as “likely Republican,” perhaps because the First Congressional District has 16,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/nyregion/lee-zeldin-trump-support.html?

[tparrett62]

1. I Fucking Hope So

I live in CD1, I hope that Zeldin goes down in flames, the miserable prick.

[dem4decades]

2. This ass hole. Peter King, and the guy that was in prison. How does NY vote for those shitheads?

[Lucky Luciano]

3. Too many white suburbanites. Some working class too. nt

[Power 2 the People]

4. Steve Bannon did a fundraiser for him in NYC. He is a lap dog for Trump and is a willing pawn.

I knew him and his family very well. Lee is a wishy-washy milquetoast but very ambitious. Sadly, he was always interested in politics as an economic opportunity rather than a call to serve.

Lee was groomed by the Republican party for many years prior to being elected. He was a perpetual candidate on Long Island. The Repugs constantly shoveled money into his campaigns because they knew he would be a front for their fuckery.

In my many conversations with him years ago I can tell you that he is secretly pro-choice and has moderately liberal views. He thought the "Tea Party" was a joke and bad for our country. I always thought he was a decent guy.

Lee and I stopped speaking because I told him he was a coward for not being true to his beliefs and to stop "playing a right wing conservative on TV."

For the second consecutive election, Zeldin's campaign mailed voters mailers instructing them to postmark their absentee ballots by the wrong date. The Lee Zeldin I knew is long gone. He has to cheat to win and he has no problem with it.

Winning CD-1 will be tough but (D) Tim Bishop held that seat for 12 years so it's possible that the district could regain its sanity.