A hot Carl

Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino was starting a movement. He stood at the Ellicott Square Building last Monday and announced his candidacy for New York governor in front of an emphatic Buffalo crowd waving orange and red banners.
Paladino, a wealthy Buffalo businessman, talked about being the only conservative with true right wing views while voicing his disappointment with how Albany was running the state.
"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore," Paladino said.
But no amount of Network quotes will save the 63-year-old tea partier's campaign now.
On Monday, WNYmedia.net gained access to a plethora of Paladino e-mails sent to his listserv of political buddies and business associates. The digital messages included racist messages and raunchy e-mails, including a bestiality video involving a female and a stallion.
Talk about halting momentum.
Despite possessing a large fortune that was going to fund his campaign, Paladino was viewed as an underdog to former congressman Rick Lazio, among others.
A poll, released on Tuesday, that surveyed New York republicans showed Lazio as the overwhelming favorite. The Quinnipiac University poll, which questioned voters from April 6-11 (before the e-mails hit the Internet), showed that 34 percent of respondents favored Lazio, while 11 percent supported Paladino. Forty percent of respondents were undecided.
And unless those in doubt are into e-mails containing a video of an African tribal dance with the caption "Obama inauguration rehearsal," many won't be electing Paladino in the Republican primary, much less in November's election.
Those supporting the man who calls his own campaign a "crusade" say that New Yorkers shouldn't pay attention to private e-mails while the state hemorrhages money and jobs.
I wonder how you can turn a blind eye to such blatant acts of racism, among other things. Personally, I won't ignore these actions by a man vying to lead my state.
Ignore the controversial views for a moment. Obviously many are turned off by Paladino's anti-abortion, anti-same sex and pro-gun stances.
This is more about irresponsibility and immaturity than anything else. Sure, we all sometimes share risqué videos and photos with each other, but we don't need a governor who is like all of us. There are important issues that need to be settled, and I don't want my governor sharing racist photos when he should be signing SUNY bills.
Paladino is going to need the $10 million he plans to spend on his campaign if he wants to resurrect his chance in the race.
Right now, Paladino and associates are already trying to spin this to show that he is the victim.
"It figures that members of the party who brought us record taxes, record spending and a record debt would want to change the topic from reform to having sex with horses and S&M parlors," said Michael Caputo, Paladino's campaign manager.
Maybe Paladino could have prevented the switch in discussion by possibly not sending bestiality videos and racist photos: most New Yorkers don't exactly trust a governor with these kinds of tendencies to lift the state out of a deep hole.

E-mail: david.sanchirico@ubspectrum.com