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'Kooky' Carl Paladino Victory in N.Y. Should Help Democrats

By Paul Shepard on Sep 15th 2010 10:17AM
Filed under: News, Politics

Comments (4)

Paladino wins big in GOP primary‎

I don't care about his policies or political agenda.

To me, any candidate who gets caught sending out racist e-mails to friends that talk about animal sex isn't fit for office.

But a majority of voters in the N.Y. GOP primary for governor apparently disagree.

That's why kooky Carl Paladino pulled off a shocker and beat establishment Republican candidate Rick Lazio last night to face state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, in November's general election.

You have to hand it to Paladino, a Buffalo businessman and political newcomer who has won the support of Tea Party activists across the nation.

Paladino and other Tea Party–backed candidates who won unexpected victories this election season have obviously tapped in to an anger with current American politics that is hard to measure.

Aside from sending out the racist e-mails, Paladino also raised eyebrows by suggesting that welfare recipients live in unused prison spaces to get job training and lessons in personal hygiene.

But that wasn't enough to scare off N.Y. Republicans.

And that is good news for N.Y. Democrats.

While Paladino's off-beat campaign strategy can win a party primary election, especially against an uninspiring candidate like Lazio, winning a general election against a political bulldog like Cuomo is another thing.

The Paladino victory shows that the Republican Party in New York, and to a lesser extent across the country, is fighting a civil war between traditional candidates and strongly conservative Tea Party members.

Democrats will be the beneficiaries.

I'm the last one to throw dirt on the political aspirations of Carl Paladino. No one thought he would get this far.

But Paladino's chances of beating Cuomo in November are slim to none. And slim is headed out the door.

　



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