The Libs' Paterson candidate, Brooke Vitnell, was perhaps fortunate to be out of town when Scott Morrison dropped into Edgeworth Tavern this week to exchange pleasantries with the locals.
History shows that one punter, Newcastle pensioner Ray Drury, launched a long and angry tirade at the PM shortly after he walked into the joint, interrupting Morrison's usual routine of pouring beer and posing for snaps with small children.
The Libs' candidate for Shortland, Nell McGill, and the Nats' hope in Hunter, James Thomson, were at Morrison's side during the uncomfortable confrontation.
The PM handled the episode with the calm exterior of someone used to lobbing and dodging grenades on the floor of Parliament.
Election Diary has been told Vitnell was otherwise occupied in Sydney, where Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was special guest at a fundraising dinner in her honour.
The Medowie lawyer now appears to have completed a Morrison-Dutton-Frydenberg trifecta of fundraising dinner guests.
Vitnell is a former staffer for Bob Baldwin, who held Paterson for the Libs for 17 years until a boundary redistribution in 2016 helped Labor take the seat.
Baldwin said this week that he had not been a party member for more than a year and had no role in the campaign beyond offering words of wisdom over the phone to candidates across the country.
ED suspects Bob is being a little modest about his clout within the party.
Outside of offering political advice, the 67-year-old is now engaged as a government and corporate relations director for local enginereing firm Varley, which won a $41 million Defence contract this week.
He is also chair of the Australian Fishing Trade Association and writes a busy blog for the organisation on such tantalising topics as the "Qld East Coast Spanish Mackerel fishery" and "stock recovery measures for iconic dhufish and pink snapper" in Western Australia.
Joyce words
Scott Morrison was not the only Coalition leader in town this week.
Barnaby Joyce gave ED some moments of his valuable time to emphasise how the Nats are looking after the Hunter and other mining export areas which help Australia stay rich and powerful.
It was clear the Deputy PM has zero interest in talking about climate change and every inclination to talk about China and national security, even going so far as to say parents didn't want their kids going off to war.
It's a tried and true election tactic across the globe to talk up a potential military threat, and the Coalition has doubled down on defence rhetoric in recent weeks.
In this area, there's been plenty of talk about F-35s, training jets, Varley-made kennels for army dogs and the prospect of a submarine base beside Scratchley's.
Barnaby even managed to argue the Muswellbrook bypass had something to do with keeping us all safe.
A khaki election indeed.
Feeling Edgey
ScoMo's tete-a-tete with Ray raised the question of whether Labor will use the images and footage in campaign advertising.
Labor sources told ED they weren't sure yet.
Of course, Anthony Albanese could easily suffer at the hands of a disgruntled punter over the course of the next six weeks as well. He came close in Perth the other day.
Political types are still scratching their heads over why the PM chose Edgeworth Tavern to press the flesh, especially given the pub's manager didn't seem to know he was coming until he walked in the door with his security detail and staff.
As one Labor operative from Sydney put it: "The Edgeworth Tavern strikes me as the kind of place where a politician from either side is liable to cop a spray."
Target practice
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns was yet another high-profile pollie to enter the political cauldron that is Newcastle this week.
The Member for Kogarah, who replaced former NBN newsreader Jodi McKay as leader after last year's underwhelming Upper Hunter byelection result, told ED he was keeping an eye on how Albo performs in the coming federal poll.
Both have adopted a small-target approach to opposition, and Minns is no doubt keen to see whether the tactic works or if he has to be bolder in developing policy before the state election in March next year.
