It was a hot August day, and the patrons of 75 Main in Southampton were trying to figure out who on earth was the man wandering up and down Main Street cosseted by several armed security guards.
The VIP, it turned out, was Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate challenging Kathy Hochul in the New York gubernatorial race, and like so many politicians and presidential hopefuls this time of year, he had ventured out to the Hamptons for a fundraiser. (The following weekend, Hochul herself would…

