Paladino Doesn’t Pan Out

The lead story in today’s New York Times, “In Poll, Voters Convey Wariness About Paladino,” shows that at least New Yorkers have some common sense, even if the rest of the country seems to be going crazy.

The results of the poll, a 59-to-24 percent lead for Andrew Cuomo, show that Paladino has gone a little too much to the extreme, even in these turbulent times. His promise to “take a baseball bat” to Albany is not helping his campaign as most respondents to the poll believed he does not have the right “temperament” to be Governor.

When asked what quality came in mind to describe Mr. Paladino, the most popular resposnes were angry, bigoted and obnoxious. One person said that he’s not just angry, he’s “scary-angry.”

Not that the results represent any overwhelming vote of confidence in Andrew Cuomo. When asked what first comes to mind when they hear his name, the overwhelming response from voters was his father, Mario Cuomo.

However, credit goes where credit is due. Andrew Cuomo has run an excellent campaign, taking a page from the notebook of George Pataki, whom Mr. Cuomo famously describes as holding Mayor Guiliani’s coat during 9/11, effectively ending his previous run for Governor. That notebook basically says, “shut up and keep quiet. Let the challenger make the mistakes.”

Andrew Cuomo could be an excellent Governor, however. If elected, I think he may very well rise to the occasion.