With the election just a month away, Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Mondello called all GOP candidates last week to party headquarters to give them a simple message: Don't do anything stupid.

Several people who were at the meeting said Mondello told them to stay on message that Republicans will not raise taxes. Don't knock fellow Republicans. And don't come up with any crazy plans or wild proposals before Election Day.

Or, as one candidate put it, "Don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." -- Celeste Hadrick

A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports. Credit: Newsday Staff

'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.

A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports. Credit: Newsday Staff

'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.

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