GOP insiders: Mondello absence no snub of Mangano

Don't read all that much into Nassau Republican chairman Joe Mondello's absence Friday from the swearing-in of County Executive Edward Mangano, party insiders warned over the weekend. Mondello was traveling outside the country, a trip for which plans were firmed up six months ago, said spokesman Anthony Santino.

But in political circles, the absence fueled an informal debate, which began shortly after the election, over how much credit Mondello gets for Mangano's upset - and the question of their future fidelity. As Mangano brings in his own team, and changes faces and numbers on the payroll, some will be watching which appointments come from which towns, particularly Hempstead and Oyster Bay.

Mangano said in September he thought it a good idea to bar party officials from holding top policy positions, as Suffolk and New York City do. The follow-up, when it comes, also should be worth watching.

BARACK'S BENCH: If President Barack Obama chooses to replace Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary - after that glaring gaffe in which she said "the system worked" in the case of Flight 253 - attention could well turn to current NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly or former Commissioner Bill Bratton to succeed her. Kelly ran Customs in the Clinton Administration, and Bratton has Democratic-side allies and major-league credentials of his own. One ex-NYPD commish, the later-collared Republican Bernard Kerik, was nominated but withdrew.

THE WAR ON

IRRELEVANCE: House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) seems as low-key and laconic as Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) is high-profile and loquacious. Given recent news coverage, you'd be forgiven for guessing that King is still the homeland security chairman - though he lost that spot a couple of years ago when Democrats took the House. Perhaps predictably, Thompson, with King as ranking GOP member, dissented in a TV interview from the pugilistic King's claim that Obama underestimates the threat of Islamic terrorism. Thompson described King as "a little bit over the edge on that."

SUBTLETY WATCH: An interesting artifact turned up during a lobbyist's end-of-year desk cleanup: The invitation last August to a fundraiser for state Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), which includes the message: "I help you. You help me. Together we build."