Cuomo: Paladino has "Extremist Views"
The New York Times reports:
Andrew M. Cuomo sharply criticized his Republican opponent for governor, Carl P. Paladino, on Monday for his positions on abortion, welfare, and education, after days of public and private pleas from fellow Democrats to take his rival more seriously.
The remarks, which came after a meeting between Mr. Cuomo, the state attorney general, and a group of black leaders at the Dwyer Cultural Center in Harlem, were Mr. Cuomo’s most pointed attack on Mr. Paladino, a Buffalo multimillionaire who won an upset victory in the Republican primary this month.
“I believe his position that we should limit a woman’s right to choose, even in cases of rape and incest, I think that’s an extreme position,” said Mr. Cuomo, flanked by William C. Thompson Jr., the former city comptroller, and Representative Charles B. Rangel, among others. “I think the position about taking families who happen to be on welfare and bringing them to work camps is an extreme position.”
Mr. Cuomo at first characterized Mr. Paladino’s views merely as those of “quote-unquote Tea Party types.” But when pressed by reporters, he finally attacked Mr. Paladino by name for apparently the first time in the campaign, while also seeking to link him to the broader national Tea Party movement, which has produced upsets by insurgent conservative candidates in Republican primaries around the country. “Carl Paladino’s Tea Party, I see as a party that has extremist views,” Mr. Cuomo said.
He added later: “I have a plan, I have an agenda, I have positions. Carl Paladino has a platform. I want to make sure New Yorkers all across the state understand the difference between them.”
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