Where did Carl "Paladino for the People" go?
Carl Paladino came charging into the New York State Governor's race like a bull. He was taking his All-American baseball bat (a metaphor for people) up to Albany and he was going to bust corrupt politicians' heads. Everyone, and I do mean everyone's, head was going to roll. No one was exempt from Paladino's political punch, including Speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver.
Paladino was going to shine a light on the bad guys. "And you know what happens when you shine a light on rodents, they tend to run away," he said in a NY1 interview on September 15th, just one day after he won the primary.
Along the many twists and turns of the winding campaign road, the bat-swinging, light-shining Paladino began to change.
And on November 1st the New York Post displayed his video, "Carl Paladino...My Story From The Heart," for all the world to see. I saw and offer the following commentary:
Setting - Paladino sits in a casual setting that gives his rehearsed speech an impromptu air. A girl, acting natural, is planted in the background to arouse curiosity.
Demeanor - Downtrodden, defeated, explanatory, all washed up, and whipped like churned butter are the impressions Paladino displays. He looks down often and covets his hands. The camera focuses on his hands, intermittently. Paladino clears his throat several times. And he speaks in an intentionally slow manner. He appears sad, pathetic, and apologetic.
Sympathy - Paladino tries to explain, or makes excuses for, why he entered the gubernatorial race in the first place. His friends wanted him to do it. He saw people suffering. His reason for trying is, "I could do it because I had my son on my shoulder and that's what his life was about...it was about helping people." Paladino's son is deceased. To see Paladino go from a fighter to playing the sympathy card is saddening. At this point in the game, it seems unnecessary.
This video appears to be one of a conciliatory speech rather than the speech of a man who is still in the game and trying to win. The speech is reflective and focuses on the past rather than the future. Gone is the gung-ho attitude, the baseball bat, and shining light. It is the last-ditch effort of a man who clearly knows he is defeated.
If Paladino loses the gubernatorial race today, let us not forget the old adage, "It is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all."
Sources:
NY1 News, "http://www.ny1.com/content/125512/ny1-online--carl-paladino-on--inside-city-hall--9-15-10," NY1 News
Post Wire Services, "Carl Paladino invokes dead son in new Internet video," NY Post
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