Problem solving over party politics: Common sense, common ground, common good

I am a 62-year-old, lifelong Democrat. Portraits of John F. Kennedy and Harry Truman hang in my office as do the portraits of Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. I believe in basic Democratic values, but neither party has a monopoly on good ideas or good people.

Since I was mayor of Glen Cove and county executive, and certainly in Congress, I have always tried to work across party lines to get things done.