And so it begins…

LoHud

In an open letter to New Yorkers, former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and former state Comptroller H. Carl McCall claim that Carl Paladino of Buffalo, who defeated former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio in a GOP gubernatorial primary yesterday, is “unfit” to serve as governor. They are calling him “a divisive figure simply not fit to lead this great state.” While Koch and McCall are Democrats, D’Amato is a Republican.

Paladino, a Buffalo developer and lawyer, handily defeated Lazio, who was the Republican Party’s pick to run for governor. Paladino has a reputation for speaking his mind and being unapologetic for his stances—some of which are controversial, such as his proposal to create the “Dignity Corps.” The corps would be a training and support program for welfare recipients, who would be housed in prison dorms and taught things like “personal hygiene.”

Paladino faces Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the outgoing attorney general, in November. Polls completed prior to the primary showed Cuomo with a large lead over Paladino and Lazio.

Paladino campaign manager Michael Caputo said the letter is the work of “three Cuomo surrogates.”

Caputo said he doesn’t blame Koch “for doing the bidding of his party,” but he had nothing nice to say about D’Amato. “The fact of the matter is the voters of New York found Al D’Amato unfit for public office long ago,” Caputo said. (Paladino signed the pledge from New York Uprising, Koch’s group, to support budget and ethics reform and independent redistricting.)

“We don’t expect Al D’Amato to be on our team. If he came to the door, we’d turn him away,” Caputo said. “Our campaign is about surgically removing ruling class elitists like Al D’Amato from Albany.”

Here is the text of the letter:

An Open Letter to New Yorkers

The victory of Carl Paladino in the Republican Primary was a disappointing day for all New Yorkers.  This state has a long history of electing highly qualified, forward-looking statewide candidates – both Democrats and Republicans.  Yesterday, however, anger overcame reason and enabled a fringe element to choose the Republican nominee.  The end result was the selection of Mr. Paladino, a divisive figure simply not fit to lead this great state.

At a time when we need leaders who can bring New Yorkers together, Mr. Paladino practices a destructive brand of politics that will divide our state.   He first came to the attention of most New Yorkers when it was revealed that, for years, he has shared racially offensive emails with associates. Including videos popular with white supremacists, these emails are beneath the dignity of a candidate for high office.

This, however, was merely a preview of what we have seen along the campaign trail.  Mr. Paladino was justifiably condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and editorial boards alike for referring to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver – a prominent Jewish leader – as the closest thing New York has to an anti-Christ or a Hitler.  Most recently, Mr. Paladino offended basic New York values when he suggested that low income New Yorkers should be sent to prison work camps for lessons in “personal hygiene.”  That type of hateful comment has no place in our discourse, dehumanizing the poor and playing off of despicable racist ideas.

Mr. Paladino is also running a disingenuous campaign.  He has portrayed himself as an anti-government crusader, while embodying the very worst of Albany’s pay-to-play culture.  To quote his own slogan, he is the reason that New Yorkers are “Mad as Hell.”

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.

There’s a reason why even the chairmen of the Republican and Conservative parties disavowed Mr. Paladino’s candidacy, noting that he “stands in stark contrast to what the Republican party stands for,” that Paladino is a “dangerous candidate,” and that he “tries to appeal to the mean spiritedness” of people.

We need a governor who can take on the special interests, not one who is a special interest.  We also need a governor who will bring New Yorkers together to take on our common challenges, not drive us apart.  Through his own words and actions Carl Paladino has proven himself unfit to serve as Governor – he is exactly the wrong person to lead our state.

ALFONSE D’AMATO

EDWARD I. KOCH

H.CARL MCCALL