Our Q&A with Carl Paladino

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We wanted to know more about Republican candidate for governor, Carl Paladino. Who is he? Why does he want to be governor. Does he think he can win?

So recently he stepped aside and took our questions. Here are his answers.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE GOVERNOR?

"For the people. It's not about me. I'm not motivated by power or ego or money or any of that stuff. I'm motivated by my sensitivity to those future generations having a life here, being able to live the American dream in New York State rather than having to go someplace else."

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN?

"The people. Just like in the primary I've been all over the state talking to people. The people, they want change. They're fed up with this. They're fed up with the reckless spending. They're tired of the over burdening taxes that just keep going up and up. My opponent wants to cap the rate of growth and taxes and spending. I'm going to cut both of them. I'm going to demand eight year term limits and demand that every legislator disclose all of his outside income and I'm going to appoint a special prosecutor to prosecute all corruption in government. Look at all the corruption you see now. Cuomo has never prosecuted any of these people because he's part of that establishment that is feeding at the public trough. We will stop that."

WHAT WILL BE THE FIRST THING YOU DO AS GOVERNOR?

Mr. Paladino said the first thing he will do is alert the State Legislature that he plans on giving them a budget that includes a 20% reduction in spending and a 10% reduction in taxes.

"And I expect them to do it."

WHO IS CARL PALADINO?

"I'm just a regular guy from Buffalo. I have the values of my Italian immigrant father and grandfather. I'm not politically correct. I'm not an intimidatable type person, which you've probably figured out. I'm an outsider. I don't want to be part of the system and I'll serve only for four years. During that time I will right the ship. We will restructure our government and hand it off to good people to carry on the good work."

WHAT JOBS OR POSITIONS QUALIFY YOU FOR THE JOB?

"Years of building a company from scratch, employing thousands of people in the state of New York. Creating thousands of jobs. I think i'm qualified. I don't think my opponent has ever created one job or signed the front end of a paycheck."

Mr. Paladino would not answer our question regarding the attacks he's faced over some of the comments he's made during the campaign.
He did end the conversation by saying, "We're down 14 points according to the recent poll. Our poll shows we're down just under 10 points and we're closing that up this week and we're going to win."