That line offered a hint of potential confrontation ahead: the criticism Mr. Green is ready to offer of Alan G. Hevesi, the city comptroller who is also running, asserting that he had been too supportive of Mr. Giuliani.
Park's reputation for brashness and confrontation attracts significant criticism in South Korea — the complaint often being that the balloons are both needlessly antagonistic and hopelessly ineffective.
Even this sliver of an opposition seems to irk Mr. Putin, who, unlike Mr. Yeltsin, shuns confrontation and bristles at criticism.
But it will be difficult for them to articulate a clear strategy of action that will answer criticism that the opposition favors the status quo more than confrontation with the government.
Such blunt and direct criticism is rare in confrontation-averse Japan.
Christie has faced criticism for his brash confrontations at public events with hecklers and people who question his positions.
The bishops' religious liberty campaign has put them in a direct and sustained confrontation with the Obama administration — contributing to criticism that the bishops' conference has become enmeshed with the Republican Party.
Black was never able to gain the public's respect, though, failing at the politics of the job and earning even more criticism with various gaffes and confrontations.
It remains to be seen whether majorities in Congress will acquiesce to the administration's argument, defusing the confrontation, or if the theory will fuel greater criticism.
WASHINGTON — Dr. Donald M. Berwick, the new chief of Medicare and Medicaid, survived his first confrontation with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday, brushing aside criticism of the new health care law and denouncing efforts to repeal it.
