Nassau Republican boss: Stay on message

With the election just a month away, Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Mondello called all GOP candidates last week to party headquarters to give them a simple message: Don't do anything stupid.

Several people who were at the meeting said Mondello told them to stay on message that Republicans will not raise taxes. Don't knock fellow Republicans. And don't come up with any crazy plans or wild proposals before Election Day.

Or, as one candidate put it, "Don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." -- Celeste Hadrick