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Astorino Launches Video Offensive Against Cuomo

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has launched an offensive on Governor Andrew Cuomo via video blogs on his campaign site, criticizing the governor for lacking transparency and driving New York state into debt.

Despite publishing a video daily since Monday, March 24, campaign spokesman Bill O'Reilly assured the recordings take very little time away from the county executive's duties, and are filmed locally at Astorino's campaign office in White Plains.

O'Reilly said the videos are part of a multi-media approach in Astorino's campaign team's communications to appeal to the tech-savvy and to help, "understaffed television and radio news operations statewide."

He added the videos are suitable for TV stations that would have to otherwise send film crews to record the county executive's remarks, and radio stations can download the audio from the clips. Additionally, the videos will also be released in Spanish.

In one of his recent videos, released Tuesday, Astorino focuses on Cuomo's StartUp New York job creation ads, which he believes are reelection ads due to Cuomo's lack of statistical backup. 

"Andrew Cuomo has said he would have the most transparent administration in history. I guess he was playing us for fools, because Mr. Cuomo refuses to say how many jobs his StartUp New York ads have created. 'Senor Transparency' is stonewalling," he said in the video. 

Astorino accused Cuomo of spending $150 million state tax dollars on "thinly disguised reelection ads."

When asked for further comment, campaign spokesman Bill O'Reilly said, "(Cuomo) will not say if any jobs have been created or if a single business has signed up for the program."

As for the nickname, O'Reilly said "Senor Transparency" is a moniker Gov. Cuomo has acquired over time, and has been "kicked around" for a while, despite Google searches uniformly attributing the term to the Astorino camp.

@suzannesamin

ssamin@dailyvoice.com

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