'Hydrofracking' arises as campaign issue upstate

ONEONTA - "Hydrofracking" may have been little more than a new vocabulary word to most of those gathered to hear the candidates debate at Hofstra last Monday, but up here it may be the single most divisive issue in local politics.

A diverse assortment of protesters awaited Attorney General Andrew Cuomo at his first campaign stop in upstate Cortland Saturday, pressing him to oppose hydraulic fracturing, a method of extracting abundant natural gas reserves from subsurface shale that some view as an economic godsend and others as an environmental nightmare.

"I don't feel Mr. Cuomo has taken a strong enough position," said Marie McRae, a Dryden horse trainer. "Everywhere in the U.S. that hydrofracking is now being used is experiencing contamination of air, water and land."

Even as Cuomo swung via RV past dairy farms and cornfields in rural Cortland, Chenango, Delaware and Otsego counties, the fight for governor was heating up on the air. Cuomo began airing an ad highlighting legal troubles of rival Carl Paladino's top campaign aides, prompting a cease-and-desist letter from campaign manager Michael Caputo's attorney to a Buffalo television station.

Caputo, one of three aides named in the ad, said he has paid the $53,000 federal tax lien the ad mentions, and his attorney calls the ad "defamatory." The spot came after Paladino commercials accusing Cuomo of being soft on corruption as attorney general. Paladino had no public events scheduled Saturday.

Democrats who crowded in to shake Cuomo's hand at a community center here Saturday wanted to be sure the candidate knew his supporters opposed hydraulic fracturing. Paladino has said he sees it as key to economic renewal for struggling parts of the state. Cuomo says the issue needs further study.

"There's a lot of emotion," Cuomo said in Cortland. "Until we have the information and the facts, then we shouldn't go ahead."

On the road, Cuomo said "it's going to be a very close election," reminding several audiences to get their "lazy cousin" to the polls. Though recent polls show Cuomo far ahead of Paladino, they also show Republicans are more motivated this year.

"This is 'R' country," said Jim Bays, Democratic supervisor of the town of Smyrna, introducing Cuomo at a Sherburne restaurant. Most Republicans in this area had favored former Rep. Rick Lazio, who refused to endorse Paladino after losing the primary, and Bays said he believes their votes are up for grabs because of Paladino's rocky performance since then.

"The more they talk, the better we do," was a Cuomo laugh line at appearances this weekend. With Michael Amon