With the amount of dissatisfaction and disappointment that many have expressed toward New York State government, it’s clear we need a governor who has a strong vision for the office and who can take control of a Legislature that has caused embarrassment on a national level. The choice for voters is between Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and the Republication businessman from Buffalo, Carl Paladino. We wholeheartedly endorse Cuomo for governor.

Paladino has little to offer and has run a campaign filled with bigotry and bluster. While we recognize the strain of populism that has appealed to those disgruntled with government and the way politicians have been behaving, we do not want our state governed by anyone who has so little respect for his fellow citizens.
But this is not simply a Cuomo-by-default decision. As attorney general, Cuomo has a strong record as the state’s chief lawyer, investigating the pay-to-play scandal that led former Comptroller Alan Hevesi to plead guilty.
His blueprint for ethics reform includes a section that would legislate that lawmakers would have to disclose their earnings from outside jobs, something we think should also happen. While we are wary of family “dynasties” in all levels of politics, we feel Andrew Cuomo has shown a clear path and ambition in politics separate from his father’s, while also learning from his time working with him.
We do, however, hope that Andrew Cuomo stops playing it safe when it comes to his stated principles, coming out strong in favor of marriage equality (something that nearly all New York City politicians agree it is time for) and other progressive legislation. Getting any of his reforms passed with an obstinate Legislature will not be easy. But we feel Cuomo can make good on his promises to restore trust and create transparency in government.

Attorney General: Eric Schneiderman

The next New York attorney general has big shoes to fill. Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo were both crusaders who were able to balance complex issues of national importance as well as move the reform ball forward. The next attorney general must have the experience to be able to tap dance his way through the minefield of Albany corruption as well as find new ways of protecting consumers. That’s why we endorse Eric Schneiderman, a state senator from the Upper West Side, as our next attorney general.
While our state government has increasingly started resembling a Saturday Night Live skit, Schneiderman has been one of the few bright stars at the state level. He’s a smart, effective, reform-minded legislator who has stood up to his party when required, as well as crafted important legislation that promotes equal justice under law, such as ending the draconian Rockefeller drug laws.
Cleaning up Albany has become something of the mantra of this election. But Schneiderman has actually done it by convening a bipartisan panel to expel fellow Democrat Hiram Monserrate after he was convicted of assault against his girlfriend. In addition, he has spent many years standing up against Republican senators that have blocked his progressive reform-minded legislation.
We are confident that his background and experience plus core philosophy of equal justice will ensure that the interests of all New Yorkers are heard. He has a broad agenda that protects consumers, prevents the pollution of the environment and fights discrimination.
Mr. Schneiderman’s opponent, Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, has a record that he can be proud of. As the Staten Island DA, he has amassed a high conviction rate for dangerous felons; he has also served respectably under Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau. Donovan has a competent, nuts-and-bolts plan for the attorney general position. What he doesn’t have is the sweeping vision needed to implement the changes as well as the reform-minded vision of Eric Schneiderman.

Comptroller: Harry Wilson

Officially, the state comptroller is responsible for the nearly $130 billion pension fund, auditing agencies and releasing economic reports. But former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s recent guilty plea in a pay-to-play scandal put a spotlight on the sleepy, unglamorous office. Now, New Yorkers need a state comptroller that is pragmatic, vigorous and innovative. We endorse Republican Harry Wilson for state comptroller.
The current comptroller, Democrat Tom DiNapoli, has implemented necessary reforms and protected the pension fund since he was appointed to the seat in 2007.
But Wilson, the Republican candidate, is a Harvard-educated investor with an extensive and unique background in the public and private sectors.
His resume includes Goldman Sachs, Blackstone Capital and, most, recently Silver Point Capital. He was the only Republican on President Barack Obama’s auto-industry task force, where he led the successful restructuring of General Motors.
Wilson has the investment and managerial background needed to make the comptroller’s job integral to fixing New York’s economy. He is a moderate Republican who has a proven record of bipartisanship and pragmatism. Much like his work saving General Motors, we believe Wilson would work well with unions, rather than conveniently blaming them for all of the state’s fiscal problems. He believes in a low-tax burden for business rather than spending tax dollars on corporate welfare.
After Hevesi’s resignation, the State Legislature tapped DiNapoli, an Assembly member from Long Island, to become the new comptroller. While DiNapoli had no prior investment experience, he has the vision to continue being an able comptroller. He also instituted important ethics reforms in the office, from banning pay-to-play practices and placement agents from the investment fund.
But Wilson has the vision, skills and temperament to be an excellent comptroller. Though he is a Republican, this is one of the few races where Upper West Side voters can cast a ballot for the GOP without voting for a conservative ideologue.

State Legislature

The Upper West Side has quality, progressive legislators in Congress and in Albany. The Republican alternative in these races are either nonexistent or not a credible choice. We endorse State senators Bill Perkins, Tom Duane and Assembly members Linda Rosenthal, Daniel O’Donnell for re-election. In the open State Senate seat that covers parts of the Upper West Side, all of Northern Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, we endorse Adriano Espaillat.
In the House, Jerrold Nadler and Charles Rangel deserve re-election to their seats.

Ballot Measures:

Earlier this year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called a commission to study and recommend changes to the city charter. This Nov. 2, voters in New York City must approve the changes at the ballot.
The questions are printed on the back of the ballot, on the other side of the candidate list. If approved, the changes would bring back two-term limits for city officials and make running for office easier. Voters should vote “yes” on these two questions.
Upper West Siders should vote “yes” on the question that would limit the next mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough presidents and Council members to two, consecutive four-year terms. Voters established these limits through two ballot initiatives in the 1990s. But when Bloomberg wanted to run for a third term last year, the Council passed a law that overturned the two referendums.
Bringing the term limits law back to two terms would respect the voters that chose two terms for local elected officials. Most importantly, the new law would also block the City Council from again changing the term limit law through legislation.
The second question contains seven parts that, in part, will help more candidates get on the ballot. Voters should say “yes” to the question, which would approve all seven changes to the charter. These changes would lower the onerous ballot laws that inhibit competitive elections and insurgent candidates running for office.

The changes include:
• Greater disclosure of campaign spending from independent groups.
• Cutting the number of petitions needed to get on the ballot in half for each elected office.
• Increasing the fine for violating the city’s Conflicts of Interest law to $25,000 from $10,000.
• Consolidating the number of “administrative tribunals,” where people charged with violating a law or regulation can contest the charge.
• Creating a commission of appointees from the mayor and City Council to review the necessity of Charter and Administrative codes that require agency reports.
• Adding government-operated transportation and waste-management facilities in the annual map of the city’s property used to site new city facilities.

By Lorraine Duffy Merkl

“Step right up, folks! We’ve got arcade games and prizes, stilt-walkers and circus performers, magicians, jugglers and a 50-foot Ferris Wheel!”

On Columbus Day, I took my daughter and her friend to the Park Avenue Armory, whose 55,000-square-foot hall was transformed into a fantastical carnival.

Traditionally, these traveling circuses were meant to bring relief from the tedium of daily life with attractions like the half man/half woman, contortionists and sword swallowers.

Although we enjoyed our time there immensely, these past couple of months has proved to me that Manhattan doesn’t need an actual midway to distract us, since a carny-like atmosphere is often created by our day-to-day, nonstop sideshows.

We now live in a post-Waiting for Superman world where people are appalled to “learn” what everyone has known all along: there are subpar educators out there who can’t be fired no matter how bad they are at their jobs.

Melissa Petro, the former sex worker turned New York public school art teacher, wasn’t one of them. She did her job well, was liked by her co-workers and students and was only punished by the school district when her past came to light.

I think what bothered many people more than her stripping and hooking was the fact that she openly talked about it, choosing not to let it be a dirty little secret of which she would have to live in fear of exposure.

Petro did the work needed to go from the world’s oldest profession to the noblest one, making her the perfect example of how people who have made a poor choice can actually turn their lives around.

What is the impetus for people to improve themselves or their situations if what they did before is always going to be held against them? I argued to my friends.

Mayor Bloomberg obviously didn’t agree with me and ordered the tenured-teacher out of the classroom.

Weeks later, I watched his press conference regarding an unrelated matter, where he declared that in this city, “tolerance defines us.” It was like looking in a funhouse mirror that distorts everything.

Next, you could have knocked me over like the milk bottle pyramid at which you throw softballs to win the giant panda. Two homophobes decided to gay bash a man in the Stonewall Inn—the birthplace of the gay rights movement, as well as the establishment where I believe the phrase “bash back” originated. Apparently, the assailants had not known the place’s history. They live on Staten Island—under a rock.

Then it was time for something as light and fluffy as cotton candy. The Kardashians moved in (temporarily, I hope) to open a clothing store downtown. Because this family will not blow its collective nose without cinematic documentation, their exploits will be a new reality show titled, Kourtney & Kim Take New York!

Lastly, there was the day I awoke to Carl Paladino on TV claiming to embrace the gay community, on the heels of saying that homosexuality was not “an equally valid and successful option.” He argued that someone else had written his remark and he hadn’t wanted to say it. But he did say it, as well as some cracks about the Gay Pride Parade. He apologized to the gay community, but lost the support of those who agreed with the original statement that he didn’t want to make in the first place. My head started spinning as though I’d just gotten off the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Well, no one ever said living here was dull. That’s part of the beauty of NYC; you can’t guess what’s going to happen next. Or in carnival parlance: Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows.
_
Lorraine Duffy Merkl’s debut novel Fat Chick, from The Vineyard Press, is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

By Alan S. Chartock

Everyone wants to know whether Carl Paladino can really be elected Governor. The answer is yes, he can. That is astounding to everyone who thinks he is a mad, crazy, Tea Party kind of guy—a rip-off artist who has made tons from government programs while preaching the gospel of fiscal conservatism. You can pick and choose among all the reasons not to vote for the guy, but recent polls show that Paladino is moving up. How can that be when the newspapers are doing one exposé or editorial after another about him? Of course, newspapers are not well thought of. We have seen several polls indicating that journalists enjoy widespread contempt.

How is it that when Andrew Cuomo is doing the right thing by not getting down in the mud with the guy, Paladino’s numbers keep going up? The respected Marist Poll shows him 15 points behind among likely voters.

Things get stranger and stranger. I have a friend who makes his living selling legal guns. He tells me that he is voting for Andrew Cuomo. He says that the other guy is just too crazy. That would fly in the face of the rising poll numbers for Paladino. The secret, of course, is that the middle-class voter sees the “system” as conspiring against them. All they know is that no matter who is in power, they are the ones getting screwed. Their taxes are going up, their schools are characterized as not working, too many of their politicians are on the take and the in-groups in the legislature are more concerned about preserving their status than about helping the people. What’s more, voters are feeling more and more that they are being “played.” They get two choices, Republicans or Democrats, and no matter who is in office, things seem to stay the same.

People want to know why media magnate Rupert Murdoch, a fiscal conservative, is backing Andrew Cuomo and has been since the Attorney General got into the race. They are genuinely puzzled about the fact that Murdoch is supporting the son of Mario when he did more than anyone else to get Mario out of office in 1994. A few potential answers to the puzzle are that Andrew has been moving seriously to the right; Murdoch’s kids seem to have far more social conscience than he does; and Cuomo senior saved the New York Post when he supported giving Post owner Rupert a waiver on the prohibition against owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.

The better answer is that we have no idea. It could just be, as Woodrow Wilson once said, “…secret agreements secretly arrived at” (implicitly or explicitly). That’s why it was no surprise that one of Murdoch’s top political guys, Frederic U. Dicker, got in the face of Paladino and started the “War of Two Mutts” that was seen on TV and heard around the world on virtually every radio station. Dicker has done this kind of gonzo journalism again and again and it always gets the desired results. But let’s just remember who is pressing the Dicker buttons.

Many journalists know that the in-your-face Dicker performance was unprofessional but they supported him anyway, so threatening is Paladino, the rogue politician. So Joe Shmoe, living in Levittown and madder than hell about everything, may just want to send a message. Joe’s, “Get off my back. Get away from me. Go away!” may be just like Paladino’s, “I’m madder than hell and you should be, too!” message. It will not be the first time in history that someone has fallen for the off-the-wall politico message. When people get angry enough they just say, “Nothing can be worse than this.”

Andrew is between a rock and a hard place. If he comes out and fights Paladino, he is the old “Bully Boy” Andrew, and if he takes the reasonable path and doesn’t fight, he is disdained for not being combative enough. As of now, he seems to be holding his fire but if the polls continue to narrow, Andrew may have to come out and fight. That would mean debating, which is something he clearly does not want to do because it gives the man the Daily News calls “Crazy Carl” an even bigger platform. These are very dangerous times. The voters are in a state of near rebellion against what they think is a rigged system and that’s why Paladino could win. It all depends on just how angry and fed up they are.

Sad.
_
Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.

By Lorraine Duffy Merkl

Behavior that gets kids detention now, could get them elected governor later.

“Pig.”

“Cheater.”

If these were the taunts of siblings at the dinner table, the parent would intervene and chastise, “That’s not a nice way for people to talk to each other.” A time-out would ensue.

If the exchange happened in school, the teacher would hand out detentions, where the students would write “I will speak respectfully to others” 100 times.

We tell children their unkind behavior is wrong, but our public officials name-call all the time while they’re campaigning, and it doesn’t stop after they’re in office.

On November 2, New York State will vote for its governor. Our choices? Carl Paladino, who photo-shopped opponent Andrew Cuomo in a shower to imply he’s a dirty politician, and Cuomo, whose party is equally adept at digital image manipulation, showing Paladino configured as a hog at a trough. Acceptable actions for grown men, but a faux pas if you’re 10? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

This below-the-belt behavior is hardly the handiwork of politicians alone; and don’t make the mistake that I believe it to be a “guy thing.”

In the new book The Twisted Sisterhood, by Kelly Valen, she dissects how nasty women are to each other, starting in girlhood. Its intent is to help put an end to the bullying issue, but like all other books, talk shows and special reports that have tackled the subject, this latest tome has its work cut out for it since there are so many television shows targeted to girls that glamorize adversarial, razor-tongued gymnasts, cheerleaders and fashionistas.

We tell kids to have manners, and to act like ladies and gentlemen. Yet if they behave to the contrary, there’s an opportunity to make 30K an episode on a reality show? I refer not just to the young and misguided who reside by the shore, but to so-called socialites who live in affluent places like NYC.

We may be doing our young a disservice by offering platitudes like, “Do unto others…” How will this train them for the future, when they’ll need to undercut others to move up in their companies? Sabotage their friends when a BFF has something they want such as a job or spouse, or humiliate a roommate by blasting personal business over the net? And how will they ever feel equipped to run for public office, like “the pig” and his opponent with “no cojones”?

Unfortunately, not all poor illustrations of “Do as I say, not as I do” that our children witness are “ripped from the headlines.”

A few years ago, I was on a school committee that collected funds from the parent body and divided it up among the staff for holiday gifts. Head teachers got more than assistants; support staff got an even smaller sum. After the first distribution, the director informed us that some of the staff was miffed at the inequity. I was quite tempted to reply, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset,” which was the constant refrain heard by my child whenever educators handed out everything from homework sheets to cupcakes.

Even though I felt justified, the only thing that stopped me was that I did not want to model how to be antagonistic and smart alecky. I wish I could say that I always thought through my actions and words to what kind of example I’m setting, but I can’t. If I could, it would be so much easier to blame the results on only outside influences.
_
Lorraine Duffy Merkl’s debut novel Fat Chick, from The Vineyard Press, is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

In suggesting how Andrew Cuomo should react to Carl Paladino (“Inside the War Room,” Sept. 23), Alan Chartock asks, “Do you take him seriously…? (You bet you do, considering how he decimated his opponent in the Republican primary.)”

Mr. Chartock makes a common error here. Just over six percent of all registered Republicans—statewide—went to the polls for the primary. This means that Mr. Paladino’s seeming “mandate” after his “decimation” of Mr. Lazio is nothing of the sort. In fact, quite the opposite. It means that the overwhelming majority of Republicans were unimpressed by either candidate—but clearly would not “pull the lever” for Mr. Paladino, no matter how “angry” they are.

This does not bode well for Mr. Paladino in the general election. Even with Mr. Lazio no longer on the ballot, it is not likely that Republicans are going to come out in droves to support Mr. Paladino

So what should Mr. Cuomo do? He should not get sucked into the trap that Mr. Paladino and his “pit bull” (campaign manager Michael Caputo) are setting, leading him back down the path of his own well-known anger. Rather, he should discuss and respond to substantive issues—with passion, certainly, but not with the type of mean-spiritedness that Mr. Paladino seems to be addicted to.

Ian Alterman
Upper West Side

By Alan S. Chartock

OK, let’s play war games—Paladino versus Cuomo. You are sitting around the war room table in both camps.

If you are Andrew, do you debate? (Not unless Paladino is coming on strong and then only very early or very late in the game.) Do you fight back against dirty ads? (Yes, you answer his stuff before it begins to stick to you, especially if he is vulnerable to many of the same charges.) Do you take him seriously even though he seems to be a clown? (You bet you do, considering how he decimated his opponent in the Republican primary.)

If you are Paladino, you also have decisions to make. Do you keep throwing rotten eggs in every direction? (Hey, it’s worked up until now.) Do you keep making pledges you can’t possibly keep, like cutting taxes to the bone and putting term limits on state legislators? (Yes, even though you know full well that the Legislature is not about to help you.) Do you keep attacking programs for the poor and educational programs? (Of course you do, that’s what got you this far.) Do you attack the press who are attacking you? (Yep, polls show that people hold the press in very low regard, somewhere around the level of skunks and dangerous reptiles. Plus, what do you have to lose? They’re all against you anyway.)

Andrew’s father, Mario, once told me that the mark of a great politician is the ability to think six moves ahead.

“Anyone can think one or two moves in advance,” said Cuomo the Elder, “but you’ve got to be good to think six moves ahead.” He went on to explain that if someone hits you, you’ve got to decide whether to hit back, and if he hits you again and again, you have to figure out what your strategy should be.

Of course, there are imponderables in all of this. What the political scientists call “intervening variables” will dictate how you conduct your political war. In this run-off, the intervening variables are just how angry the electorate is and just how amused they are by Paladino. I know from interviewing him on several occasions that the man has no real boundaries and he will do whatever he can to win. He is capable of playing fast and loose with the truth. Of course, he isn’t the only politician to do that.

Since he declared his candidacy, Paladino has hit a nerve with the major New York City dailies. To put it mildly, they don’t like him. The Daily News ran a full-page headline: “Meet Crazy Carl.” The Post seems to have reached an agreement with Cuomo and has unleashed their top political guns against Paladino. The New York Times editorialized in favor of the Republican establishment Lazio, who was soundly, overwhelmingly and unpredictably (the polls got it all wrong) beaten. So what’s going on?

First and foremost, everyone believes that the government is broken and needs to be fixed. The middle class perceives that it is being screwed and they respond negatively to the idea that the poor are being helped. They see themselves as paying for things like Medicaid programs that benefit others. Because the middle class votes, you can expect the Paladino war room geniuses to capitalize on that discontent. Sure, the poor vote too, but their numbers are not enough to carry an election. Thus, the poor become Paladino’s target.

Then there is racism, which goes hand in hand with the anti-poor message. When a candidate puts out an email with racist messages, gets caught and defends himself by saying that he was “…only passing it on,” you had better consider the possibility that he damned well knew what he was doing. The only other possible alternative was that he was just stupid. This multi- multi- multi-millionaire didn’t gain his wealth by being stupid.

So why did the pollsters get it wrong when they predicted that the Paladino-Lazio Republican primary was too close to call? When you are a candidate of hate, many people won’t tell the truth to their pollster or their mother. They may like Paladino, but they know better than to say it out loud. That’s going to be a challenge for the Cuomo forces. For his part, Andrew continues to move right on the political spectrum. He is saying all the politically fashionable things about government spending. The question is whether people will believe him or whether they will see him as Mario II. Look for his ads to differentiate between him and Papa.

This is gonna be a humdinger.

_
Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.

By Alan S. Chartock

If you were Andrew Cuomo, who would you rather run against: Rick Lazio, the Republican middle-of-the-roader who is as American as apple pie and Howdy Doody, or his conservative, tea-partyish opponent, Carl Paladino? Cuomo is beating the stuffing out of both of them in the polls. You can be sure that this question is being discussed a lot in the Cuomo organization and between Papa and Junior Cuomo.

Lazio is the old, moderate, New York Republican. The former Long Island Congressman couldn’t be nicer. He’s earned his living, post-Congress, as a corporate senior official. His problem is that he hasn’t earned enough to finance his own campaign, which Republicans need to do these days. If I’m Andrew Cuomo, having raised millions of dollars from the usual suspects, I am very happy about the prospect of running against Lazio. Cuomo must believe that no matter what happens, Lazio won’t raise enough money and will never have the funds to mount a credible campaign. Nor will he have a personality transplant and become mean enough to really come after the Attorney General. And no matter what happens in the Republican primary—even if Lazio wins—Paladino will run on another line. Andrew has got to love that.

Of course, if Paladino wins the primary, Lazio will toe the conservative line and history tells us that you can’t win squat in New York as a Republican unless you have both the Republican and Conservative lines. Andrew must like that a lot.

Cuomo has to assume that Lazio is a sure loser. Paladino is a wild card. He’s meaner than a junkyard dog and he’s spoiling for a fight. While he says that he is not a billionaire, he has enough millions to buy whatever he needs to win. He did what he had to do to collect enough signatures to get on the Republican primary ballot. You have to assume he hired the best and the brightest to get that onerous job done. He told me that he has already spent a measly two of the 10 million dollars he has committed to the campaign.

My thinking is that Paladino, with his incendiary right-wing rhetoric, is banking on the fact that this will be another year like 1994, the year of the so-called “Gingrich Revolution.” The American people will be so frightened by the lagging recession, immigration hysteria, gay marriage hysteria and all the other hysterias, they will slam on the political brakes and yell at the top of their lungs, “Enough!” That, after all, is how Gingrich took over the last time and it’s why Papa Mario lost. That’s how people like Jesse “The Body” Ventura got elected as a long, long shot in Minnesota. In order to get elected governor, Paladino is pushing every button, from the great Mosque debate to his conviction that too many poor people are getting too much from the middle class.

So if you’re Cuomo, you’re probably more afraid of the Paladino candidacy than of the prospect that Lazio will be your opponent. What do you do? Of course you say, “I’m staying out of this,” but in some way, you have to find those mechanisms to help Lazio. It could be simple stuff, like getting your friends on editorial boards to endorse Lazio. For example, look for Cuomo backer and Republican Rupert Murdoch to support the more milquetoast Lazio. That will be a sure sign of what Andrew wants. Or Andrew could start to treat Lazio as if he were the more fearsome potential opponent.

Naturally, Andrew would not want to get caught meddling in the other party’s selection process, so if he did anything, he would have to be circumspect. Surrogates must be enlisted to do the dirty work. Everything will be put under a microscope so each option has to be carefully thought through. Paladino is flogging the Ground Zero Mosque issue just as hard as he can, so even if Andrew does the right thing and announces his support for building it, he’ll do so in the most muted terms.

Hey, politics is a tough game and the Cuomos cut their eyeteeth on this kind of 3-dimensional chess.

To answer the original question, Cuomo has got to be more for a Lazio candidacy than a Paladino attempt. Indeed, Paladino may self-destruct and become a laughingstock, but it is also possible that the politics of frustration might give him a chance. Remember how scared people get in dire economic times? Read your history and see just how worried FDR was about some of the nuts that were
running against him.

_

Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.