Rick "one issue" Lazio Loses to Paladino

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Rick “one issue” Lazio Loses to Carl Paladino

Posted on 15 September 2010 by Mooneye

Rick Lazio has lost the New York GOP primary for governor to Tea Party candidate Carl Paladino. Lazio, a former moderate Republican based his whole campaign on the so called “Ground Zero” mosque controversy. In a cynical move Lazio jumped on the anti-Muslim/anti-Mosque sentiment and essentially based his whole election on opposing the mosque, hoping it would endear him to the nutty Tea Partiers who have taken over the GOP. He had nothing to say about the economy, jobs, health care, our wars, he stuck to his one trick pony and in the end it did him no good. He sold out his principles and any integrity he had for a cheap chance at winning an election, nothing new in the annals of politics but well worth a good hearty laugh at.

Rick Lazio, Carl Paladino, and the Future of the GOP

Rick Lazio, the once-popular moderate GOP congressman from Long Island, has lost his bid to become the Republicans’ nominee for governor of New York. Lazio will still appear on the ballot on the Conservative Party line, but crazy, racist upstate millionaire businessman Carl Paladino will be the New York GOP’s choice to take on state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. This is both appropriate and scary.

It’s appropriate because Lazio wasn’t much better than Paladino on what became (sigh) the key issue of the primary race. During the campaign, Lazio, like Paladino, focused much of his attention on the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” a community and worship center that a group of moderate Muslims want to build two blocks away from the site of the September 11 attacks. (Adam Weinstein has more on all that here.) The two GOPers were basically competing to see who could better stomp on the Constitution.

Lazio referred to the project as a “trophy mosque” (implying all Muslims were responsible for 9/11) and of course claimed his opposition was “not about religion.” After all, he said, “There are many places for Muslims to pray throughout the city.” (Why should Muslims be able to pray on private property that they own? It’s not like this is America or something.) “But this site here is so close to Ground Zero,” he said, adding that “it is sacred ground.” Cuomo, to his credit, has rejected Lazio’s calls that he “investigate” the planners and funders of the so-called mosque. The “mosque” stuff is a disgusting, hateful business, and a more courageous Republican candidate wouldn’t have participated in it. I suspect Lazio wasn’t lying when he said his position on the issue was “not about religion.” Of course it wasn’t—it was about politics, and trying to convince a radicalized, rump New York GOP to nominate him. How’d that work out for you, Rick? Read More

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Biz

@ Daniel I am throwing my hat in with you.
DrM

Sleazy Rick pulled this sort of thing before. Back in 2000, Lazio was a nobody until he became known nationally for getting in then First Lady Hillary Clinton’s face during a 2000 Senate debate(which backfired with women voters especially). He criticized her for accepting money from a Muslim group. She returned the money like a coward, but Lazio lost the Senate race anyway.
muhammad ‘abd-al haqq

Tell it to the res of the Muslims and so-called minorities that continously support the Republican Party…trust me when i tell you the Republican party has been good at hiding the fact that it has always been xenophobic, racist, and now Islamophobic
Justin

@Daniel

I second the motion.
Daniel

This is evidence of the reason why I had to change my party affiliation from Republican to Democrat a few weeks ago. The Republican party has been all but taken over by xenophobic, racist and islamaphobic kooks, and I refuse to support it any longer.
http://www.counterculture-jihad.com Zakariya Ali Sher

Gee, someone who is racist against blacks also happens to be Islamophobic. Sensing a pattern here guys? Fortunately I think this idiot stands even less of a chance at winning, which is good, but its a bad sign of what is happening to the GOP. Instead of changing with the times and trying to attract conservatives of different religious or ethnic backgrounds, they cater to the kookiest fringe of the far right, as if to reassure themselves that white evangelical males are somehow the majority in this country.

I find it especially amusing that this Paladino jack@$$ is mocking Obama by showing ‘tribal blacks’ in Africa doing a traditional dance. Its funny because these same bunch who are opposed to Islam (and anything from the Middle East or South Asia in general) claim that its not about race or culture. Black Africans have created intellectual and material culture as sophisticated as anything in Europe or the US. There was a time when the great Muslim states of West Africa were both richer and more powerful than their European or Arab neighbors to the north.

Yet, in typical racist fashion, all of black Africa is reduced to ‘primitive tribes’. Completely ignoring the fact that there are about 35 million Hausa alone. That’s more than the entire population of Canada. More than Greece. And way more than Switzerland. Kind of puts things in perspective doesn’t it?
mindy1

Ah NY politics at their worst-makes me want a little anarchy
Justin

Unrepentant Paladino sends out racist, pornographic, bestial, sexist e-mails including one using the word N—–.

Nope. No tea party racism here. (sarcasm intended)
http://loonwatch NassirH

Trying to win elections by taking advantge of popular xenophobia and bigotry–right out of the Geert Wilders playbook.
IbnAbuTalib

As Dr.M would say, these are two cheeks of the same rear end.
Sulayman F

What a fool. How can he call it a “trophy mosque” yet not make it about religion?

Unfortunately, this is actually Worse in a way. Lazio opposed the mosque, saying that the government (FBI, NYPD) should investigate it. Palladino went one step further, saying that the State should use Eminent Domain laws and actually seize the property from the Muslims.

Now the teabagger Palladino won and is going to move on to the November election against Andrew Cuomo. Palladino has a pretty awful record and hopefully won’t get far. Fortunately, FiveThirtyEight and NYTimes say he has 300-1 odds of actually beating Cuomo, so let’s not worry too much about him winning. I’m more concerned about the increased exposure he will get now as the GOP nominee, and more press time to spew more hate.

At least he can’t really make good on his threat to wipe out the islamic center. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) was passed by Republicans in Congress in 2000, specifically stating that local and state governments can’t block the construction of houses of worship and can’t try doing it on technicalities or zoning discrimination.