Paladino, Ever Unpredictable, Stumps for Gingrich
By MICHAEL BARBARO
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/us/politics/carl-paladino-shows-up-to-campaign-for-gingrich.html?pagewanted=printMANCHESTER, N.H. — Carl P. Paladino, an unpredictable, unconventional and unvarnished Republican candidate for governor of New York in 2010, made an unexpected visit to New Hampshire this weekend to experiment with a new role: as an on-message, on-script and on-team surrogate (of sorts) for Newt Gingrich.
It was an awkward fit, and in Mr. Paladino’s first few hours on the trail it seemed a bit like a large man trying on a small coat.
Mr. Paladino, who rode a wave of disgust with New York government to become the Republican nominee for governor but was defeated amid worries about his combative political style, lauded Mr. Gingrich in an interview here for his “eloquence” and “debatability.” At one point, he labeled the former speaker of the House “huggable.” But Mr. Paladino repeatedly veered off the customary path of polite praise and unqualified approval.
He declared that he “totally disagreed” with Mr. Gingrich on gun control. He called Mr. Gingrich’s upbeat campaign slogan — “Rebuilding the America We Love” — “a mouthful,” especially compared with the punchy political mantra of Mr. Paladino’s campaign (“I’m mad as hell too, Carl!”).
And, at a time when Mr. Gingrich is seeking to sell himself to the still-skeptical right wing of the Republican Party, Mr. Paladino had this to say about the candidate’s record: “You can’t paint him as a conservative. You can’t paint him as a moderate. He is a mix.”
Sitting in a windowless office at Mr. Gingrich’s Manchester campaign office on Sunday morning, as volunteers raced up and down the halls, Mr. Paladino acknowledged he was not a traditional endorser who would dutifully recite talking points. He said he was just being himself — which, he pointed out, was a lot like Mr. Gingrich.
“We are both transparency-type guys,” Mr. Paladino said. “All these hidden agendas, these little secrets, this nonsense here, this nonsense there.” He trailed off, his face assuming his trademark look of disgust with the establishment. “We tell it like it is.”
Mr. Paladino’s precise place in the Gingrich political operation remains somewhat fuzzy. He has never met the candidate, he said. He has no formal role in Mr. Gingrich’s public events. At a campaign stop on Sunday afternoon in Manchester, Mr. Paladino stood off to the side as the candidate spoke, then introduced himself to one of Mr. Gingrich’s daughters, who did not seem to recognize him, though she smiled politely and thanked him for volunteering his time.
A spokesman for the Gingrich campaign said that Mr. Paladino was not officially involved in the campaign.
Mr. Paladino said he decided to show up in New Hampshire a few days ago with three longtime advisers to learn how to build campaign infrastructure for Mr. Gingrich in New York, alerting a Gingrich campaign aide in Washington beforehand.
As long as Mr. Paladino was in town, he figured he would speak out for Mr. Gingrich. Using his newly created e-mail address, paladinoforgingrich@gmail.com, he invited a number of reporters to meet with him.
He said that had become disenchanted with the rest of the Republican presidential field and dismayed that the party apparatus was coalescing around Mitt Romney. “He still has that deer-in-the-headlights look to him,” Mr. Paladino said of Mr. Romney. “He is so plastic.”
During his campaign for governor, Mr. Paladino roamed the state with his dog, Duke, and often promised to take a baseball bat to New York’s political culture. In New Hampshire on Sunday, he said he had brought neither his dog nor a bat, figuring they might distract from Mr. Gingrich’s message here.
He said that in his home state, however, it would be a different story. “I will have my bat ready for the New York primary,” he said.
