Paladino campaign swing takes him to Nassau, Suffolk

Carl Paladino, the Republican nominee for governor, who has campaigned against party bosses and entrenched interests, rallied last night with the state's key GOP political machine, the Nassau Republican Committee, urging activists to get their friends and neighbors to the polls on Tuesday.

"Nassau County is the most important county in the state of New York for this election," Paladino told a crowd of hundreds of cheering Republicans in Levittown Hall in Hicksville.

Joseph Mondello, the Nassau GOP chairman who had originally supported Paladino's primary opponent Rick Lazio, said Paladino could win Nassau if Republicans turned out to vote in large numbers. Paladino aides say the Buffalo developer needs to win the suburbs and have an overwhelming margin upstate to have any hope of defeating his Democratic opponent, Andrew Cuomo, the state attorney general.

"We're going to work our tails off for him," said Mondello, who said he's supported Paladino since the Sept. 14 primary results, though no formal announcement of his endorsement was made.

Earlier in the day, Paladino met commuters in Hicksville and Ronkonkoma and shook hands at the Lindenhurst Diner on Montauk Highway - traditional face-to-face politicking he's done little of until this week.

Paladino said the support of Nassau Republicans - known for years as the state's most disciplined "political machine" - would not upend his campaign narrative of being an outsider who can fight entrenched interests.

"I am an outsider but I fought my way into the Republican endorsement," said Paladino, who petitioned his way onto the ballot. The cheering sign-waving crowd embraced Paladino's message of tax cuts, slashed spending and dismantling government agencies "piece by piece."

But Paladino, who is far behind in polls, shared the stage with establishment Republicans who in the past have kept their distance from him, such as comptroller candidate Harry Wilson. Last night, Paladino called Wilson "one hell of a man," adding "he actually has a background that qualifies him for the job."

Nassau Executive Edward Mangano, who has publicly supported Cuomo's proposal for capping property taxes, didn't mention Paladino in brief remarks in which he spoke of other candidates by name. He left the stage without shaking Paladino's hand. Asked by Newsday before his speech whether he supported Paladino, Mangano said: "I'm here to support all our GOP candidates."