Former Long Island lawmaker Bruce Blakeman announced his Republican Senate campaign yesterday by attacking his rivals, and immediately sticking his foot in his mouth — mistaking the Giants for the Jets.
“Let’s all hope that the Giants are victorious today, and it’s one more step to the Super Bowl,” the attorney said in front of 500 supporters at the American Legion Hall in his hometown of Valley Stream, LI.
After some friendly jeers, he quickly corrected himself and acknowledged it was the Jets, not the Giants, who played — and defeated — the Chargers yesterday.
The former Nassau County legislator, whose ex-wife, Nancy Shevell, made headlines by dating Paul McCartney while she and Blakeman were separated, dished out equal criticism for Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand and Harold Ford Jr., a former Tennessee congressman considering a primary challenge to Gillibrand.
“I don’t know who I will be running against in November. One is a congressman from Tennessee. The other is the senator who votes like she’s from Nebraska,” quipped Blakeman.
“I’ve got news for both of them: Memphis isn’t Massapequa, Omaha isn’t Olean, and Nashville isn’t New York City,” said Blakeman, accompanied by GOP heavyweights, former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and Rep. Peter King.