Manetta jumps ship

One of Suffolk's top political consultants, Anthony Manetta, is hooking up with Frank MacKay's Independence Party. Manetta, a Conservative, filed Wednesday to switch to Independence. Although that doesn't take effect until a week after Election Day 2008, MacKay has named Manetta a county party vice chairman.

MacKay plans to deploy Manetta as a paid party fundraiser locally, at the state level, and for his newly created Independence Party of America - a platform from which New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg could run for president if he chose.

Manetta, head of Roosevelt Strategies, raised $80,000 for the Independence Party this year, which never before raised more than $25,000 in a year - thus allowing MacKay to draw a $70,000-a-year salary. The consultant first hit it big engineering Conservative Vincent DeMarco's 2005 county sheriff election. Last month Manetta ran Robert DiCarlo's close but losing bid for Brookhaven supervisor. Frank Tassone, Manetta's top operative, is leaving the firm to head the transition team for that town's new GOP board majority, said party chairman Jesse Garcia.

- Rick Brand on Long Island