If you're rooting for Bruce Bent-and I am-in his bid to become the next Nassau County executive, you might be troubled to learn that as of mid-August he had neither a formal campaign office nor an official Web Site. Indeed, a call to the county's Republican headquarters in search of Bent's contact information was of little help. The receptionist didn't know how to reach his staff, either.

The latter anecdote, when relayed to Bent campaign manager Mike Dawidziak, generated an unexpected response. It turns out that the Republican nominee's primary strategist wasn't concerned that the first person who picked up the phone at the Nassau GOP didn't know where to find the candidate atop their countywide ticket.

"Bruce Bent is running as an outsider so this shouldn't surprise anybody," he said.

With Democrats Tom DiNapoli and Tom Suozzi slugging it out for their party's nomination in the Sept. 11 primary, some GOP insiders have questioned the wisdom of Bent's strategy to date. He is flying too far below the radar, they say.

"Twenty to 25 percent of your target audience is away during the summer months," Dawidziak said, defending their decision to hold off on buying TV or radio spots during July and August.

Bent's county executive campaign will feature plenty of advertising after Labor Day, he continued. "Bruce Bent is not the best choice for Nassau County executive ... he is the only choice," sounds like the potential mantra. They'll tout his lifelong ties to Nassau (raised in Great Neck, he now lives in Manhasset), his extraordinarily profitable business career, and the steps he'd take to restore the county's fiscal health.

Let me offer two additional suggestions on how he can build goodwill with Nassau's taxpayers and those who are registered Republicans, but are disenchanted with the way in which the current Administration has governed.

Neither Seek nor Accept Municipal Union Endorsements: Few, if any, of the county's municipal union leaders think Bent has a chance to win. An announcement like this one will offset whatever positive publicity the Democratic nominee thinks he can generate by orchestrating endorsement press conferences.

Pick a Fight with The Gulotta Administration: Perhaps Bent could announce in September that he'll ask all of the incumbent GOP agency commissioners for their resignations, if elected in November, and then re-interview them to see if they warrant re-appointment in January 2002.

The voters would welcome the candidate's willingness to break with his party's recent past and, best of all, the affected GOPers don't even know how to reach Bent in order to complain.

Mike Barry is corporate communications manager for a financial services firm. He served in the Pataki Administration and was elected a Nassau County delegate pledged to Senator John McCain in the 2000 GOP presidential primary.