This weekend the two leading candidates in the race for Governor are trading attack ads.
Paladino went first with his “usual suspects” ad claiming Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the current attorney general, hasn’t put corrupt politicians in jail, and has given a pass to people in his own party.
Cuomo Sunday, released two versions of an ad, one ends with "You can't clean up Albany with dirty hands."
The Cuomo ad also features Republican State Chairman Ed Cox, who is “Richard Nixon’s son-in-law.”
The ads can be seen at my website:http://www.dominiccarterreports.com
Meanwhile the Newspaper endorsements are flowing in for Cuomo. Among them in our local area: The New York Times, New York's Daily News, the New York Post, and Newsday. Upstate newspapers in Rochester, Poughkeepsie, Kingston and Glens Falls. Even Paladino's hometown paper in Buffalo is giving him a big thumbs down.
The New York Times:
"Despite several position books, Mr. Cuomo’s candidacy has been more skeletal than it should have been, and there have been times when he failed to stand up forcefully for his stated principles. But he has a strong record in office over the last four years and has proposed serious solutions for some of the state’s problems.
We endorse him with the hope that he would be a bolder and more forthright governor than he has been a candidate. New York cannot afford anything like the scandal, gamesmanship and weakness that have marked the governor’s office in the past four years.
Our endorsement is not merely a process of elimination. Mr. Cuomo has proposed serious ethics and redistricting reform. His blueprints for reasserting fiscal control lack many important details but generally seem to set a proper course. He knows about the sinkholes and mudslides of Albany from the experience of his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. As the state’s chief lawyer, he successfully prosecuted Democrats and kept pressure on Wall Street while actively defending consumers. He needs to be no less assertive if he becomes governor."
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle backed Cuomo and favorite son Robert Duffy while blasting Paladino:
“The fact that Paladino upset former Republican Congressman Rick Lazio in the September GOP primary showed he tapped into New Yorkers’ anger about the direction of the state. But rather than offering well-thought-out solutions to the state’s mounting problems, since winning the primary Paladino’s become a caricature.”
Newsday: “Throughout, Paladino has demonstrated that he’s unfit for the office of governor. On this basis alone, Democrat Andrew Cuomo should get the nod. But Cuomo has earned election for reasons that go beyond simply not being Paladino.”
Even Paladino's hometown newspaper the Buffalo News had this to say:
"In the end, there is no choice for governor but Andrew Cuomo, and it’s not just because Carl Paladino burned his own campaign to cinders after scorching Rick Lazio in September’s gubernatorial primary…
While it has become trendy to sneer at “career politicians,” the fact is that a good one knows his stuff: how to work the levers of power to best advantage; who the players are; where the bodies are buried. Cuomo knows all that and he has laid out an approach for taking the state back from the special interests and the lawmakers they have bought.”
Also notworthy in the race for Attorney General, the Daily News went with Republican Dan Donovan.
“His record includes boosting the office’s felony conviction rate to the city’s top ranks while making tough calls without regard to political fallout. That’s why the borough’s voters, who skew Democratic, reelected the Republican Donovan by a landslide in 2007."
AG race may be so close it comes down to turnout.