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Politicians Worry About Paladino's "Violent" Talk
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 16, 2010
Modified Sep 16, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 16, 2010
Modified Sep 16, 2010
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is famously straight-talking. But does that make him dangerous? Well, yes, according to former Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R) who told WCBS 880, “He is dangerous, at the least, he is mean spirited and he tries to divide people."
D'Amato, former Mayor Ed Koch and former State Comptroller Carl McCall issued an open letter to New Yorkers opposing Paladino, pointing out that besides his questionable policy ideas, "He has personally distributed close to a half a million dollars to federal and state candidates, bankrolling the campaigns of numerous allies. This has allowed him to pocket millions of dollars in tax incentives, sweetheart deals, and scores of government contracts. Paladino's real estate empire takes in over $10 million each year in government rents alone." (Paladino's campaign manager Michael Caputo said,"You would expect that kind of rhetoric from pigs whose heads are being pulled from the trough.")
Still, today, McCall and other black leaders questioned Paladino's fitness: Former City Comptroller and 2009 mayoral candidate Bill Thompson said, "I’ve heard more violent talk from this candidate -- about beating people up, about having them jailed and beating them on the way to jail -- than I’ve heard in all my years in government…He’s shown up to this point he’s clearly unfit to be governor. I’m sorry, not unfit to be the governor -- unfit to be in any elected office in this state."
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) said of Paladino's oft-quoted line about bringing a baseball bat to Albany, "Carl Paladino doesn’t need a baseball bat; he needs anger management and an intervention." City Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Brooklyn) also warned, "You should be afraid, very afraid. He would turn the clock back on women’s rights… He’d basically [put] women [back] in the kitchen.” And on the Republican side, lawmakers were told keep keep Paladino "at arm's length"—a state official told the Post, "Our candidates are being told to say they can work with Paladino, that they believe in many of his positions, but that they should also say they can work with Andrew Cuomo as well."
Tagged
al damato
Albany
andrew cuomo
Carl McCall
carl paladino
dangerous
ed koch
election 2010
rhetoric
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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