Hey George, you want to try again to explain this?

By Richard K. Barry 

Sometimes politics is just weird. Check this out: The Wall Street Journal reported a few days ago that attorney George Demos was quitting the race for the Republican congressional nomination for eastern Long Island (NY-1). The primary is on June 26.

The reason he gave was that he decided to focus on his upcoming wedding to Chrysa Tsakopoulos, which takes place in a week or so.

As Daily Kos points out, it is true that a judge moved the primary from September to June earlier in the year, and that there may have been some scheduling tensions, but this is still an odd one.

What did Demos do, wake up last week and say, "Shit, I'm getting married next week. Better cancel that whole 'I want to be a Congressman' thing"?

I'll admit I can be bad with a calendar, but come on!

Inevitably, when these things happen, there's something else going on. This excuse is as credible as retiring politicians saying they want to "spend more time with their families."

Two years ago, Randy Altschuler defeated Demos and one other candidate in the same GOP primary. Altschuler lost narrowly to Democrat Timothy Bishop.

Even if Demos realized he couldn't win the nomination, the timing is strange as is the reasoning.

I'd have to guess his supporters are somewhat annoyed at the sudden decision. What do you think the chances are they'll sign up for a future campaign?

Do I see a movie in the future? Perhaps: "My Big Fat Greek Wedding and How It Ended My Political Career."

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)