Rob Astorino on Civil Rights

Opposes gay marriage, but it's a non-issue

Astorino, four years after Cuomo soundly beat the more unabashedly conservative Carl Paladino, has taken a more pragmatic approach to the hot-button issues than Paladino, trying to stake out nuances in his positions that could snare larger segments of voters.

But one state Republican Committee member said any claims that Astorino is an extremist is "a laughably inaccurate comment. He just won re-election in a Democratic county with a 2-1 Democratic enrollment."

Astorino argues that abortion and gay marriage are non-issues ginned up by Cuomo and the Democrats to energize their larger voter bloc.

Opposes gay marriage, but it's the law of the land

[Although Cuomo portrays Astorino as an extremist in TV ads, one pundit] said Astorino can't objectively be seen as ultraconservative or an extremist: "If you talking about south of the Mason-Dixon Line, Astorino is a flaming liberal. Is he an extremist? I would say certainly not in temperament, but I don't think in policy, either."

People from the Bronx drive up costs in Westchester

The video was distributed by the "Astorino Truth Squad"--a group who have been serving as a rapid response team. For now, the Democrats on the local level are working as surrogates as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stayed largely above the politically fray at least publicly.

Cuomo earlier teased Republicans for a potential primary: "It's unfortunate that Mr. Astorino has chosen to vilify the hard-working residents of the Bronx and speak of them as something less than their neighbors in Westchester. I have found that the best path to progress is by celebrating diversity, not insulting one another or pitting New Yorkers against one other."