Pro-Cuomo ad attacks corruption in Albany

ALBANY - A new TV campaign ad featuring a creepy swamp and a strumming guitar warns that the next New York governor could make corruption in Albany even worse.

But it isn't an attack ad against the Democrats who control state government, intended to boost either Republican candidate before the Sept. 14 primary. It's meant to help Democratic front-runner Andrew Cuomo.

The statewide ad says a morass of corruption could get worse with the election of Republican Rick Lazio, a former lobbyist, or developer Carl Paladino, a longtime campaign donor who has won state leasing contracts.

The ad placed by the state Democratic committee accurately states Lazio received a $1.3 billion bonus from Wall Street during the federal bailout by taxpayers. It also accurately states that Paladino has contributed $452,000 to politicians over the years and collects $10 million annually from government leases of his Buffalo buildings.

The ad, however, doesn't mention that Democrats control both houses of the legislature or that Democrats hold every statewide elected office, including Cuomo as attorney general, and two Democrats who succeeded fellow party members who resigned in scandal.

It states: "Albany, a swamp of corruption overrun by lobbyists and special interests. It could get worse . . . Lazio and Paladino aren't the answer. They're the problem."

The Cuomo campaign notes the ad is being run by the state committee. Cuomo is head of the party and routinely directs the committee to issue attack and counterattack rhetoric. The committee, as with Cuomo's campaign, won't release the cost of TV ads, but that must eventually be reported to the state Board of Elections.