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.
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