Carl Paladino needs some political maturity, and it can’t come fast enough.
Will he apologize for his outrageous behavior last night.
Did he really think he would get a heartbeat away from becoming governor without scrutiny he doesn’t like.
Aides had to separate Paladino from New York Post State Editor Fred Dicker at an upstate hotel.
What could Dicker possibly do to push Paladino so far “over the edge?”
He simply asked Paladino to provide proof of his claim to the Politico blog that his opponent, Democrat Andrew Cuomo,had extramarital affairs while Cuomo was married divorced to Kerry Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's daughter. (Paladino started the day warning Fox TV that the already ugly race is "going to get nastier.")
Paladino made the claim against Cuomo-without producing evidence. A major no-no.
Reporters have a long history for going after candidates that "imply," without the proof, especially on salacious charges.
"Has anybody asked Andrew Cuomo about his paramours?" Paladino said during the morning.
Yelling at Dicker, Paladino said he would provide proof "at the appropriate time" then accused Dicker of being biased for Cuomo.
But that wasn’t all. Straight out of a scene from a mobster movie, Paladino also threatened Dicker:
"You send another goon to my daughter – and I'll take you out!" he shouted.
Paladino's campaign manager Michael Caputo then jumped into the fray, pushing the candidate away from the confrontation and into a men's room. Caputo took up the fight before the men were separated by others in the room.
The Cuomo people were taking the high road as of last night. Cuomo's spokesman Josh Vlasto said, "We have not and will not descend into the gutter with Paladino, Caputo and [Paladino adviser Roger] Stone. We're not going to start now because the people of New York deserve a better dialogue from their candidates and journalists."