Carpetbagging rich guy Shawn O'Connor proved himself a clown long ago; now he's just demonstrating that he's a total schmuck. Earlier this year, after O'Connor received an understandably less-than-warm welcome from Granite State Democrats, he abandoned his bid for the party's nomination in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District and decided the best way to prove his progressive bona fides would be to run as an independent—and thus undermine the chances of the real liberal in the race, ex-Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.
On his way out the door, O'Connor went berserk, threatening to sue Shea-Porter for defamation and claiming that some state senator had alleged that O'Connor "had planned to purchase and place rats in the kitchen" of a restaurant owned by a prominent local Democrat. You can see why the locals loved him so much.
So it's no surprise that O'Connor, who's been polling in the low double-digits, has ramped up his bizarre and offensive behavior, calling the progressive pro-Israel group J Street a "pro-Iranian lobby" and demanding that Shea-Porter return donations the organization has bundled for her over the years. He's even running a TV ad saying that Shea-Porter has taken "$140,000 from a lobbying organization that supports Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism which funds ISIS." That rhetoric is even worse than what you typically see in a Republican ad.
But what makes this truly obnoxious, though, is that last year, back when he was still a Democrat, O'Connor traveled to J Street's offices in D.C. and sought the group's endorsement! For him to turn around now and tell rank lies about an organization whose support he tried to earn is truly craven. J Street ultimately endorsed Shea-Porter in her race against GOP Rep. Frank Guinta, and fortunately, Democrats and Republicans alike seem to think her odds of victory are strong. But that's no thanks to O'Connor, and with any luck, we'll never hear from him again after Tuesday.