To some, gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino has been a welcome and lively change of pace for New York State politics, but others within the GOP are beginning to wonder whether Paladino’s brash style is too abrasive and off-putting to win an election.
Nervous GOP leaders have told Paladino that he should apologize to Democratic opponent Andrew Cuomo for suggesting that he took part in extramarital affairs, several media outlets are reporting.
Paladino made those claims to POLITICO last week, saying, “Has anybody asked Andrew Cuomo about his paramours?”
Paladino said, as campaign manager Michael Caputo chimed in, “when he was married.” Paladino later dialed down his comments, saying to The Buffalo News that he only wanted Cuomo to get the same level of media scrutiny about his family; however, in a more recent Fox News interview Paladino said that his campaign would release the proof of the affair and would, “say whatever we have in our box at the appropriate time, yes.”
A source close to the Paladino campaign told the New York Post that a public apology might be the best way for the candidate to show that the wild-card candidate is capable of maturity, although it is unclear if he will be willing to do it.
The same person also told the Post that the Buffalo businessman has become “uncontrollable”.
Although Cuomo split from his wife Kerry, the daughter of Robert Kennedy, in 2003, the Cuomo campaign denied the accusations put forth by Paladino.
"We have not and will not descend into the gutter with Paladino, Caputo and [GOP operative Roger] Stone,” said Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto. “We’re not going to start now because the people of New York deserve a better dialogue," he said.
A GOP operative not connected to Paladino’s campaign summed up the situation very succinctly, saying, “It would be nice if he could just keep his s--t together for a week.”
