In the realm of current political gaffes, Joe Biden takes a big bite of the pie, having most notoriously told a man in a wheelchair to stand up and take a bow while he spoke publicly on the campaign trail with President Obama.
But Carl Paladino's comments on homosexuality, made earlier this week in response to fellow gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo participating in a gay pride parade with his family, seem to go beyond something that we can simply set aside as a campaign hiccup.
As an editorial board, we would like to believe that his remarks were brash efforts to accommodate the politics of a conservative group of Orthodox Jewish leaders. In other words, we think Paladino simply said what a conservative constituency wanted to hear in order to gain their confidence.
On the 2010 campaign trail for New York governor, Paladino has certainly taken the foreground with his loquacious public behavior, riling up New Yorkers to promote change in Albany. Retaining an energetic fighter for a Republican New York is like choosing the big kid to play on your ailing kickball team.
But many Republicans are now scratching their brows and shaking their heads at the mounting collection of the candidate's inexcusable public bloopers, as much of the registered right wing wants the chance to vote Lazio again. And in a year during which Republicans have witnessed a reasonable conservative revival and promising numbers from right-leaning moderates, disappointment stems from their current candidate's inability to publicly handle socio-political issues with tact.
Entertaining the opinions of a small crowd while speaking on the record nationally was where Paladino made the mistake of roguishly condemning an important social group of New Yorkers.
Some may try to call it politicking, but there is a line. Consider if a candidate for New York governor addressed a group of white supremacists and admitted agreement with their bigotry in the presence of the press. It just shouldn't happen.
In other words, we must hold Paladino accountable for his compulsive statements, as this gaffe adds weight to his heavy stock of shortsighted public statements.
Arguably, performers at gay pride parades display themselves in ways that may be inappropriate for young children to see. And it might have seemed radical to a conservative that Andrew Cuomo would bring his two young daughters to a parade that risks visual contact with male near-nudity.
Still, concluding that proponents of gay rights have been "brainwashed" is not the best way for a prospective New York governor to win confidence.
Though it may be extreme to claim that Carl Paladino hates homosexuals, he has certainly helped to plant the seed of doubt, and many New Yorkers have lost enthusiasm for Paladino's ability to handle political discrepancies diplomatically.
Photo: Photo courtesy of Clyde (@chemical.trails)
