Paladino gets icy reaction from GOP leaders

Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino Monday got an icy reception from leaders of his own party as they sought to distance themselves from his remarks over the weekend about gays.

The GOP officials joined in a cascade of criticism from gay rights groups and prominent Democrats in the wake of his statement to a group of Hasidic rabbis Sunday that children should not be “brainwashed” into thinking homosexuality is all right.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani Monday called on Paladino to apologize for his “highly offensive remarks.” Paladino’s opponent in the GOP primary, Rick Lazio, said the speech was “counterproductive and an embarrassment.”

Dan Donovan, the GOP candidate for attorney general, and Harry Wilson, the Republican running for comptroller, both issued statements denouncing Paladino’s comments. Told that his own ticket mates had come out against him, Paladino said yesterday, “So what? I don’t care. My remarks were very clear.”

Conservative Party chief Michael Long, an influential adviser for Paladino, said the party agrees with the candidate’s sentiments, but not his language.

“Carl is not a wordsmith, that’s for sure,” Long said. Brainwashing “is probably a word that he shouldn’t have used.”

The head of the New York chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans — a grassroots gay political organization that embraces the GOP — said yesterday it most likely wouldn’t endorse Paladino in the wake of his statement.

“We were considering endorsing him before,” said Gregory Angelo, chairman of the New York State Log Cabin Republicans. “His statement yesterday made any endorsement extremely unlikely.”

David Kilmnick, chief executive officer of the Long Island Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Services Network in Bay Shore, said that vague condemnations of Paladino’s statements were not enough and called on all state GOP candidates to disavow the Buffalo real estate developer’s candidacy.

“He’s further fanned the flames of a homophobic base,” Kilmnick said. “It’s a pathetic attempt to pander to that conservative base.”

But despite the criticism, political strategist Mike Dawidziak, who worked for Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy in his unsuccessful campaign for the GOP nomination for governor, said Paladino’s comments most likely wouldn’t lose him many votes.

Dawidziak said Paladino has appealed to his base by “being this outspoken bomb-thrower. He’s not going to all of a sudden become something he’s not. How much of the gay vote was he going to get anyway?"

The Democratic candidate for state attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, called Paladino’s comments “unconscionable” and said he is unfit to become governor.

“On the very week that gay youths are being attacked and even killing themselves, we need our leaders to lower the temperature, not raise it,” Schneiderman said.