Politics on the Hudson

Buffalo developer and GOP gubernatorial Carl Paladino is never shy about expressing his opinions, and this time he didn’t hold back.

Speaking to the Watertown Daily Times on Wednesday, Paladino called Gov. David Paterson a “drug addict.”

“I don’t have any constraints about saying what’s on my mind,” Paladino said.

He went on to knock the governor, calling him a life-long drug addict.

“I’m telling you Paterson’s not your friend,” he said. “He’s a drug addict, he’s been a drug addict his entire life. Say it, I don’t care.”

Paterson, after assuming office in 2008 following the resignation of Eliot Spitzer, admitted to prior cocaine use. Paladino is gathering petition signatures in order to gain a spot on the Sept. 14 primary ballot. He would face former Rep. Rick Lazio, the favored choice of the state Republican Party for governor.

Paterson, a Democrat, is not running for re-election.

Spokesman Morgan Hook dismissed Paladino’s comments as “idiotic.”

“I’m not responding to Carl Paladino’s idiotic comments,” he said. “I don’t have enough time in the day.”

Update: Paladino campaign manager Michael Caputo issued a statement this afternoon clarifying the remarks.

“On Wednesday at a meeting in Watertown, Carl Paladino referred to Gov. David Paterson as a drug addict. Carl was referring to the Governor’s admitted use of cocaine, a highly addictive narcotic that ruins lives. As anyone who ever fought to help a habitual cocaine user will tell you, once you are an addict, you are always an addict. It is a constant fight to stay clean and productive in daily life,” Caputo said in the statement.

“If the Governor is no longer using cocaine, then good for him, good for his family and good for the State of New York. But once you are an addict, you are always an addict. And if the Albany ruling elite is okay with present or past drug use among their political leaders, they need to know that the vast majority of New York is not.”

Caputo also made swipes at Lazio, and the Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Cuomo, who have admitted to using marijuana.

“Unlike any other candidate for Governor or our present chief executive, Carl Paladino has never used marijuana, cocaine or any other illegal drug. The Office of the Governor is no place for drug abusers – and Carl is not one of them,” he said. “Carl is not politically correct. Carl tells it like it is. And if this is uncomfortable talk for the Albany crowd, they should buckle their seat belts because this will not be the last offense of their delicate sensibilities.”

Here’s the video:

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