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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2013 By John F. Bailey, Ringside Commentary  October 23, 2013:

The rematch of County Executive Robert Astorino and Noam Bramson on News 12 Tuesday evening should have been stopped

The County Executive brushed up his left right, down low, up high punches, got inside his own record  and bloodied Bramson’s record  time after time. He opened cuts Noam’s cornermen could not and have not all campaign been able to stop bleeding believability.

The County Executive seemed to daze the challenger with a command of his talking points that Bramson’s peek-a-boo, aimless counterpunches  about values and kind of leadership appeared to slide right off Astorino’s attack strategy.

When taking rare blows from “The Brammer”, Astorino had some left hooks and right crosses that turned a Bramson bash aside, sustaining Astorino momentum with a fact instead of a feeling. As I often say, facts kill. Even your own facts.

Bramson’s cornermen throughout the debates have failed to prevent Astorino from walking through Bramson’s airy attacks and getting inside on Bramson’s record and hanging him out to dry.

For a man obviously as intelligent as Mr. Bramson to have a staff that has done so little homework on Astorino’s record, not having command of the difference between borrowing and fund balance, not even saying how many persons have had to quit their jobs because Astorino laid in child care cuts, has this veteran observer pushing my fedora back, puffing on a White Owl, and shaking my head.

Where was the much-needed justification of New Rochelle tax increases Astorino has been landing haymaker after haymaker on? What did those tax increases do for New Rochelle? His staff has not devised a ring strategy  so Bramson can bar the attack on taxes in New Rochelle that Bramson has not gotten past, is puzzling.

As the blood flecs spattered the television screen, getting blood on my notepad in 8-count after 8-count, in knockdown after knockdown it was hard to watch,  you wondered when Bramson was going to quantify actual savings he would make in his plan to lower taxes by orchestrating  consolidations, the magic community by community, school district by school district touch-up stick Bramson says will keep taxes down.

You wondered how child care is going to be increased, and be paid for. The closest Mr. Bramson came to saying how he would  replace the money cut was saying he would restore that and get it elsewhere.

Bramson has not said to this day he would keep taxes where they are, ignoring the first rule of campaigning, say you will do what the people will like, you don’t have to do it if you’re elected. This is just bad advice not saying, “Read my lips, no new taxes. No tax increases.”

Bramson invoked the sacred St. Clinton, (Bill Clinton) who held a fundraiser for him Monday night, calling himself a mainstream Clinton-Democrat. He continued to carry the Democrat Crusader banner of “V” Values on his satin fight robe as he climbed between the ropes.

When the bell rang, the peek-a-values failed to hold up as Astorino waded in, landing the blows we have come to expect: the straight ahead left, in-your-face poke that the Marist poll holds that 64% of Westchesterites polled say the county is moving in the right direction. The right cross that he Astorino has lowered taxes, the body shot into Noam Bramson’s tax history in New Rochelle.

Bramson countered with his charges that Astorino brought back gun shows to the county center; cut child care, ignored environmental changes needed to be made; vetoed a law to protect abortion clinics;  evidence that Westchester needed a person whose beliefs were more in line with the majority of people in Westchester.

Bramson frames these debates in an appeal to idealism the belief that people are basically altruistic and good, that they will opt for the right thing, fund child care, eliminate gun shows, prosecute strongly protestors outside abortion clinics, and eliminate “so-called exclusionary” zoning in Westchester’s mostly white wealthy  communities that the vast majority of people believe in the spirit of these politically correct issues.

With a 2 to 1 margin, Bramson’s reliance on the high ideals, but fuzzy-specifics of how he would achieve his sensitivity administration, may very well sway those who are pure of heart and say their prayers by night and believe in the Democrat’s message.

The election November 5 will tell the tale.

I had last night’s bout scored on the 10-point must system, 95 for Astorino, 65 for Bramson.