Carl Paladino

(by Dan Fischer)
Many Genesee County Republicans are throwing their support behind Carl Paladino for Governor.

Genesee County GOP Chair Richard Seibert, surrounded by a host of GOP loyalists, announced his endorsement of Paladino today.

Speaking on the steps of the Old County Courthouse, Paladino recognized agriculture as Genesee County’s number one industry. He says, as governor, he would support local farmers.

"If the farms are going to expand," he declared, "and they illustrate to us that they will reinvest their taxable profits back into the business, we're going to give them a tax holiday. We're going to share that cost with them, and it's going to be done equitably and fairly."

Paladino says if elected, he plans to halt the Mosque project at Ground Zero.

"I'm saying that as of January 1, I don't care what (stage of development) the project is in, I will stop it. And I will use what ever legal means I have available to me to stop it. It's an affront to the American people, it's an affront to the families that were lost at Ground Zero."

Paladino has petitioned his way into the Republican primary against former Congressman Rick Lazio.

Candidate for governor Carl Paladino will be appearing in Batavia at 1 p.m. to receive the personal endorsement of Genesee County Republican Party Committee Chairman Richard Siebert.

County GOP Vice Chairman Don Read and County Treasurer Scott German will also be on hand to give their personal endorsements to Paladino.

A Buffalo businessman, Paladino is running in the Republican Party primary and is also attempting to found his own political party in New York, to be called the Taxpayers Party.

Carl Paladino wants to be your next governor.

Frankly, I never heard of the guy until he announced his candidacy. 

Let's just say, his first impressions have not been favorable. He made a rather tasteless comment that Obama's health care reform would kill more Americans than the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We also learned that he apparently fathered a child out of wedlock 10 years ago.

Now come revelations by Buffalo blogger Alan Bedenko (his wife works in Batavia), who has exposed racist and pornographic (to put it mildly) e-mails Paladino forwarded to his political and civic associates. Click here, if you must, but keep in mind that even Bedenko's sanitized versions are not appropriate for children.

The images include screen shots (some parts blacked out) of pornographic movies, including one involving an animal, as well as blatantly racist shots at President Obama, such as a video of African tribesmen dancing under the caption "Obama inauguration rehearsal."

Here's what Paladino said about the e-mails, according to the New York Daily News:

"I confess to being human and imperfect, as are all of God's children," he told a Buffalo crowd Monday. "I am proud that I've created hundreds of jobs and opportunity for people of every ethnicity, color and sexual preference."

Paladino said he "didn't originate any of these e-mails" and was "somewhat careless" in forwarding them.

He said he tried to send the e-mails to "a very specific bunch of friends who somewhat enjoy that humor."

Paladino apologized to women for passing along porn -- but not men.

"I say this to the men out there who have never opened a graphic image on the Internet: Don't vote for me. For those who have, I welcome your vote," he said.

Paladino's campaign manager dismisses the revelation of the e-mails as "we think this is a smear campaign authorized by Democrats in Albany," according to the New York Times.

Paladino is running for the GOP nomination. The NY Daily News says he has ties to the Tea Party Movement.

UPDATE: Buffalo News has a pretty complete story on the topic of the e-mails. Apparently, Paladino thought he was being funny:

Paladino said Satalin referred to Bob Lanier, a Paladino friend and All-America center who led the Bonnies to the NCAA Final Four in 1970.

"He takes me to task, and I respond, "Jim, you've lost your humor,'" Paladino said, adding he was trying to explain he sent the items only for the sake of their humor.

UPDATE II: Now the Buffalo News reports that even tea party leaders want nothing to do with Paladino.

And in Albany this morning, the same Tea Party Express group that staged a rally at Erie Canal Harbor on Monday distanced itself from Paladino — who just a day ago was emerging as a key ally of tea party groups.

"You've seen the emails ... so what makes you think we would support him? That's absolutely incompatible with anything we stand for," said Mark Williams, the group's chairman.

"Pornographic, racist e-mails. How do you think that we would ever support something like that?"