Bruce Hirschfeld is running against popular liberal Nydia Velasquez for Congress in Brooklyn. Naturally he has people (in nice blue T-shirts) carrying his petitions in Park Slope. Problem is no one seems to have told them how to petition.

It may be a moot point since I doubt Bruce Hirschfeld will get all that many votes, but let me just point out that from what I saw today, at least some of their petitions will be worthless if challenged.

Three people were covering the same playground in Park Slope with Hirschfeld's petitions. They went up to every single person there to ask them to sign. They didn't ask whether people were registered to vote. They didn't ask whether people were registered as Democrats. And they didn't ask whether people were in the 12th Congressional district. They took signatures from anyone they could. I was asked three times and could have signed all three times...even though I am not in the district. His strategy seems similar to what I saw when Michael Tobman was running Roger Adler's judicial campaign: their petitions had so many out of district signatures (some even from Manhattan and out of state) he would never have made the ballot had his petitions been challenged. The Adler/Hirschfeld strategy seems to be to get as many signatures as possible, election laws be damned, then hold your breath and hope no one challenges them.

Now it is possible that these three petitioners were not typical of Hirschfeld's petitioners and it may well be he will have enough legal signatures to qualify. But I somehow doubt it. Though maybe now he will realize he has been spotted and people are aware that his petitions are lousy and he will shape up his crew.

Last night was the monthly meeting of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats and was the evening when my wife and I got in all the petitions we were working on. Of course we could do more petitioning, but I think we will be taking a break from that to catch up on our regular lives. But something has struck me as I have petitioned in three separate Election Districts and talked to people petitioning in a good half dozen other districts. One candidate who I have been watching out for because he is running against a friend of mine seems missing.  read more »