PORTSMOUTH — Members of the Leftist Marching Band, known for political activism, admit they were mildly taunting Senate candidate Scott Brown on Halloween night, but say they were pretty surprised when he verbally insulted them in public in return.

Pat Spalding, a member of the band, said the incident, which happened in the Rusty Hammer following the Portsmouth Halloween parade, was a stellar moment for the band because the Facebook page for the Leftist Marching Band received 1,300 new page views and got many “likes” for the page after band members posted what transpired.

“These were liberal Jeanne Shaheen supporters who were trying to create a disturbance and their behavior was totally out of line.” said Lauren Zelt, N.H. GOP spokesman, when the campaign was asked to give a comment.

This is what was posted on Saturday: “Last night at the Hammer, post-Portsmouth Halloween Parade, The Leftist Marching Band, was personally insulted by Scott Brown. After treating him to a rousing rendition of our song ‘Health Care Blues,’ he approached our table to ask, “What did you guys do with the money you should have spent on singing lessons? Because you suck.”

Elizabeth Wolff, another member of the band, said she was really surprised by his reaction.

“For someone whose public image matters so much right now to publicly insult us,” said Wolff. “It was really frat boy behavior. When he approached us, we expected he’d say something funny, or maybe tell us he had a plan for health care. We didn’t expect to be told we sucked. It was very disrespectful to us as people and as voters.”

After all, Spalding said, all the members are voters, even if they are probably not voting for Brown.

Spalding said the Leftist Marching Band participated, as always, in the Halloween parade. Their theme was “the Night of the Non-Living Wages” and they dressed as zombies.

“We went to the Hammer later, to hang out, have a beer and Scott Brown walked in with his people,” said Spalding. “Some of us started chanting carpetbagger and he kind of waved. My friend Liz said we had to do something, so we sang our song, ‘The Health Care Blues.’ That’s when he walked over to the table and said what he did. Then he just turned and walked away.”

Spalding said they were asked to stop what they were doing by the Hammer staff.

“We did,” she said. “We had already made our point.”

Reached by phone, Ryan Williams, a spokesman for the Brown campaign said he was at the Rusty Hammer and didn’t recall any such incident occurring.

Wolff said she is not surprised that the Brown camp deny the incident happened.

“We have no video, but people there heard the whole thing,” said Wolff. “He came in, very casual. He was shaking hands and taking pictures with people. We just wanted to make a point and we have that right. We started chanting carpetbagger because we think he is an incredibly new resident and not qualified to represent us. He answered that, saying he was born in Portsmouth. That’s true but he hasn’t lived here as a resident until a short while ago. A few minutes later, we decided to sing our song.”

Copy the Story Link