The vice chairman is second-in-command of the assessment department and takes over if Levinson steps down as he has promised. Brita succeeds Chumi Diamond, who earned $82,500. If voters agree to make the assessor an appointed position this November, Suozzi will appoint Brita, sources said. If the job remains an elected position, Brita will be the Democratic nominee, they said.

Brita, who worked as vice president for procurement at Credit Suisse, is not well-known politically. A party source said he was chosen for his credentials. “He’s got a very good grasp of the issues facing the assessment department,” added a Suozzi spokesman.

Brita said he became familiar with assessment’s impact during his year on the school board, and while serving on the West Hempstead Civic Association board. “I’ve sort of educated myself on how assessment works.”

He acknowledged that many homeowners are angry about their assessments. “I was joking....(that) if people think Harvey Levinson is the seventh ring of hell, I guess this makes me the sixth.”

Meanwhile Legis. Denise Ford broke with Republicans to give Democrats the 10 votes needed to confirm Brita’s appointment two weeks ago. Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead) was absent, leaving the legislature in a 9-9 Democratic-Republican split.

Ford, a registered Democrat from Long Beach who was elected on the Republican line, said she supported Brita because Levinson asked for her vote.

“I like Harvey Levinson. We’ve always gotten along,” Ford said....

Celeste Hadrick

E.J. McMahon (right), director of the conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy, said of Democratic Suffolk Executive Steve Levy -- when contacted during the latter's widely-publicized clash with the county PBA over highway-patrol cuts -- “He’s carved out a very strong record as a manager and shows much less fear of unions than most politicians of either party.”

Dan Janison

In a campaign that raged through the hot, tumultuous summer of 1977, Mario Cuomo lost the race for New York City mayor to Ed Koch. Today the ex-governor’s son, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, of Manhattan, draws mention as a possible contender when the mayoralty opens up next year. That may especially irritate Rep. Anthony Weiner, an expected candidate whose bluntness has been compared to that of Koch. Cuomo has said he is focused on being the best AG he can be — which is not a denial.

Dan Janison

It turned out a mama peacock and her babies were doing the squawking.

The ruckus occurred at the senior citizens’ center where the meetings are held.

During the public hearing sessions, the loud mewing sound, which appeared to come from somewhere in the room, turned out to originate under the window on the courtyard.

Councilwoman Patricia Biancaniello told the audience that it was the newborn birds and their mother making the noise that had those in the meeting wondering.

The female peacock gave birth to five babies the previous week. (The one at right is for illustration's sake).

Stacey Altherr

After the jump: And Obama release with prior consistent statements, to counter a GOP release arguing that he's shifting.

Obama, any Democrat, has long faced a dilemma on his promise to get out of Iraq: It's irrational to give a gold-plated promise to withdraw, regardless of the situation on the ground, but that's what part of the base wants.

With evidence of security improvements, McCain's campaign -- and some experts -- have been predicting for a couple of weeks that Obama would shift his emphasis, if not his policy. Until now, evidence of a shift has been pretty flimsy. But today, discussing his planned visit to Iraq, Obama says it will help him "refine" his policies:

“My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything that I’ve said, was always premised on making sure that our troops were safe. I said that based on the information that we had received from our commanders that one to two brigades a month could be pulled out safely, from a logistical perspective. My guiding approach continues to be that we’ve got to make sure that our troops are safe and that Iraq is stable.”

That last phrase is particularly striking. Stay tuned.

Update: The RNC is out with a release comparing past comments, and: “There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience.”

With Obama clearly more inclined toward withdrawal than McCain, who wants to stay; and withdrawal the popular position; it's hard to see Obama being hurt too much by a "refinement" that sounds presidentially cautious and careful. On the other hand, taking the words literally -- if troops stay as long as Iraq is "unstable" -- that could prove to be a pretty long-term proviso....

After the jump: Obama's remarks, GOP response.

In reviewing the mostly flattering coverage of how tough, disciplined, kinetic and bald new McCain top man Steve Schmidt is, we came across this:

"Strategy-wise, Schmidt's been an advocate for some of the boldest moves made by the McCain campaign, including the coyly misrepresentative accusation that Romney was 'for surrender' -- McCain's term -- based on wanting a 'timetable' in Iraq. The charge twisted Romney's words, but many feel that it helped seal Florida -- and thus the nomination -- for McCain."

Ah! He's just another guy who thinks a campaign is a macho game to see who can trick the voters better! What a wonderful contributor to the democratic process!

Worth keeping in mind the next time the McCain crew complains about how unfair it is for the Democrats to be twisting his 100-years-in-Iraq comment.

He pointed out that 20 of his members are from upstate -- the Senate Dems are actually more tilted toward downstate -- and kept banging the drum for a property tax cap, which is favored by 75 percent of New Yorkers, but opposed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver:

“I can be tenacious. I can be focused. And I believe we just have to do something. [Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan] has said no. But I believe that no is not acceptable.”

McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico has been a little puzzling, as noted yesterday.

Drugs aren't a big issue. A few days in Latin America is a hamhanded way of appealing to Latino voters. Enthusing about free trade with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is not a recommended approach to winning Rust Belt states like Ohio. Going with advisor Charlie Black, who lobbied for Colombia, doesn't burnish your reform credentials. Maybe he had a heads up about the hostage rescue -- but then, why leave Colombia before it happened?

The latest? He's meeting in Mexico City with Jeb Bush, brother of the highly popular president who McCain wants to be associated with as much as he can. Might even spawn some Jeb vice-presidential speculation.

The campaign shake-up announced yesterday sounds like it was probably a good idea.

On a slow news day, two interesting fact checks:

1. In a new ad (left) designed to appeal to (white) working class voters, Obama features a reference to having passed welfare-to-work legislation, which slashed the welfare rolls by 80 percent. The legislation wasn't federal -- it was an Illinois bill designed to implement the welfare reform legislation passed by the Clinton administration, which essentially forced the hands of states.

And it turns out that Obama was actually opposed to the federal legislation, which was criticized by many liberals who feared it would be too onerous on the poor. From a speech on the Illinois Senate floor, via ABC: "I am not a defender of the status quo with respect to welfare. Having said that, I probably would not have supported the federal legislation, because I think it had some problems."

There's wiggle room if he wants to be Clintonesque about it. But at bottom, it's pretty bold to take credit for the achievements of legislation that you said you didn't support when its achievements had not become manifest.

2. In his speech on patriotism earlier this week, Obama criticized an ad sponsored by Moveon.org that had labelled Gen. David Petraeus as "Gen. Betray Us" after he testified in support of the surge last year. He immediately took fire from conservatives -- and especially from several Fox "News" personalities -- who pointed out that he had "not voted for" a resolution condemning the ad when it happened.

The true story seems to be that Obama did vote for a resolution condemning the attack on Petraeus, as well as previous GOP attacks on the service of vets John Kerry and Max Cleland -- that was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. But he boycotted a vote on a resolution from Republican Sen. John Cornyn that singled out Moveon for condemnation.

So people like Laura Ingraham and Rich Lowry (see here) castigate him as a hypocrite for not voting on one resolution, without even mentioning the resolution condemning the ad that he voted for?

That's just childish. Maybe the typical Fox viewer wants right-leaning spin, but do they actually want to be completely misled to feed their anti-Obama animus?

Fun story in Time about the gambling habits of McCain and Obama:

McCain (not a secret) is slightly addicted to risk, and likes to play craps at casinos -- betting a few thousand a roll in a game that's all about chance but, it should be noted, not using casino credit: "The goal, say several people familiar with his habit, is never financial. He loves the thrill of winning and the camaraderie at the table."

Obama, on the other hand, is a cautious card player, joining a regular weekly low-stakes poker game among legislators when he was a state senator in Illinois. He played to win, not for the thrill of it: "He studied the cards as closely as he would an eleventh-hour amendment to a bill. The odds were religion to him. Only rarely did he bluff."

The contrast then becomes a metaphor for the campaign -- a little glib, but fun nonetheless:

"Politicians talk of their campaigns as grand contests of ideas. But in practice, the political battle is both a crapshoot and a poker game, a study in managing risk and in manipulating people.... McCain's campaign, like his life, has been marked by its embrace of living dangerously and by clear runs of fortune and disappointment. Obama, meanwhile, has succeeded, no less remarkably, by diligently executing a premeditated strategy."