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Primary night must have been a full moon because the New York State Republican Party has succeeded in nominating some truly hair-raising candidates to run our state. While the New York Democrats cleaned house on primary night, removing coup plotter Pedro Espada and re-defeating domestic abuser Hiram Monserrate, it's clear from Tuesday's results that Tea Party extremism has hijacked the once moderate New York GOP.
On the surface, do-nothing assembly member Greg Ball and millionaire developer Carl Paladino. Nothing signifies this transformation more than the nomination of wingnut fellow travelers Carl Paladino for Governor and Greg Ball for State Senate.
Carl Paladino and Greg Ball are both engaged in an active war on the poor meant to dehumanize New Yorkers in need. In the midst of a two year long recession, Paladino blames poverty on the shiftless character of the poor and called for the return of poorhouses. Ball, for his part, has denounced affordable housing as homes for "the Nation's poorest and weakest."
The Paladino-Ball ticket is fully committed to repealing gun control laws that have received bipartisan support in New York. Unsurprisingly, the both Ball and Paladino have been rewarded for their fealty with the strong support of the gun lobby.
Finally, for reasons that are not exactly clear, respect for women is not part of either conservatives' definition of "traditional values". Paladino was famously caught sending incredibly crude and sexist e-mails, while Greg Ball appears to have an abhorrent lack of self control, to say the least, and strongly and asininely opposes legislation to protect women from discrimination in the work place.
Clearly, the Paladino-Ball team would spell disaster for the Empire State if elected. While progressives might be enthused by the Republicans' nomination of candidates so far out side the main stream, in the long run it is an unhealthy state of affairs to have one of the two major political parties function as some kind of electoral mad house. New York's voters must ensure that these men receive the defeat they so richly deserve in November to send a message to the New York Republicans that the shallow and dangerous demagoguery of Paladino and Ball has no place in our state. |
