NY23: Biden brings Joe-mentum to Watertown; media flock to see him

Just left the Bidenmania rally eight blocks from my hotel. The star of the show, really, was N.Y. Democratic Party State Chairwoman June O’Neill, a diminuitive fireball of liberal demagoguery.

O'Neill warned of "right-wing extremists who have brought their hate-mongering tactics to this district." (Unless I was mistaken, this must have been a reference to John McCormack of the Weekly Standard, who was at the event and being closely watched by local police, lest he start asking Biden questions.)

"We have to stop the madness," O'Neill told a crowd of about 200 Democrats who turned out for an event covered by about 30 reporters, including seven TV crews. "We cannot afford to let the right-wing extremists make a point in this district. . . . The right wing is not right."

O'Neill named Rush Limbaugh ("boo!"), Sean Hannity ("boo!") and Glenn Beck ("boo!") among the out-of-town right-wingers whom she accused of attempting to impose themselves on the defenseless citizenry of the 23rd Distict.

O'Neill was introduced by state Sen. Darrel Aubertine, who was offered the Democratic Party nomination and turned it down, thus forcing the Dems to go with Bill Owens, a Plattsburgh lawyer. Owens seems to be a nice guy, but he has zero name-ID in most of the 23rd District.

Hoffman continues to lead in the latest Siena poll and, at this point, the "undecided" poll respondents should be told to stay home. If you don't know whether you're a Democrat or a "right-wing extremist," you're too dumb to be allowed to vote.

Did Joe Biden make another gaffe in today's speech? I don't know. I didn't stick around for the whole thing. Unlike big-shot media types who have state-of-the-art Internet communication gear provided to them by wealthy publishers, all I had with me was some old-fashioned stuff called "notes" written on the back of a press release. (Somehow lost my pen and had to borrow a ballpoint from another reporter.)

Anyway, I figured I'd better get back here to the hotel lobby and poach their computer to file this, before I got totally scooped. C'est la guerre!

UPDATE: See my report at The American Spectator. Also, we're linked by that right-wing extremist Gateway Pundit, and I have posted exclusive photos from the rally. Hey, I'm no John McCormack, but I try . . .