Paladino's Frugalness Worrying Republicans

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We're less than a month away from the NY gubernatorial election, and it seems as though Republican candidate Carl Paladino has money foremost on his mind. The multi-millionaire, worth an estimated $150 million, has been scrambling to raise more funds to compete with Andrew Cuomo through money bombs; according to his website, he's raised approximately $72,000 this past week, roughly 36 percent of what he is aiming for (he raised another $100,000 in the weeks prior). Paladino has already pledged to use $10 million of his own money as well, but many Republicans are getting nervous that he hasn't dipped into that cash yet: "Obviously, they're at a crossroads. Certainly, Mr. Paladino has represented he's going to spend at least $10 million of his own money, so I don't know why he'd wait for funds to come in unless he's not going to meet that commitment," John Jay LaValle, chairman of the Suffolk County Republican Party told BuffaloNews.

LaValle, whose county accounts for the largest Republican enrollment in the state, said that he has contacted the Paladino campaign at least three times to ask how his organization can help, but has yet to receive a response. And while his TV ads have saturated upstate NY, he's woefully neglected campaigning in NYC and downstate NY. "He's not doing all the logical things you'd think they'd be doing," like buying media time in the city and making daily campaign appearances, said one Republican strategist.

But if there's one thing Paladino prides himself on, it's that he's a fighter. Or moreover, as extrapolated from a new profile of him in BuffaloNews, he thrives on conflict, "a man who seems to love the fight, regardless of whether he wins or loses." But we all figured that out weeks ago.

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By Ben Yakas in News on October 10, 2010 1:14 PM

Comments [rss]

John L

That's all the Republicans care about, how much of his wealth he would spread around to them. They know he can't win but they still want their piece of the pie.

Reminds me of when they were trying to get Bloomberg's girlfriend to try to run for Senate, hoping that Bloomberg would spend another obscene amount of money on her run. That's all they care about, "the money."

Spirit of 76

What's the big deal anyway? The only way he's Republican is that he has that slot on the ballot. Do they think that if he won, he'd push Republican policies? He's only in it for himself. If he were a Democrat, I'd still hope for him to lose.

Mr Mel

I doubt that he would spend millions of his own money with the polls showing him in the tank. He, single-handedly, will bury the the GOP in NY State this year.