Why are 'Many in the Tea Party' Attacking Carl Paladino?

That's the question I've been asking since the candidate's new TV ad started airing this week. I couldn't find a copy to embed here, but you can follow this link to Paladino's own site and watch the ad. You'll hear him distinctly say, "Now, like many in the Tea Party, the liberal elites are attacking me unfairly."

Did I miss something? The last time I checked, Paladino was the favored candidate of the TPs, or so he claimed. When did they start attacking him all of a sudden?

I can only conclude that neither the candidate nor his handlers considered how his grammar implied a hostility toward him on the part of his own presumed base. But there's a radio ad that gets the grammar right, and the desired point across, by saying something to the effect of "Like many in the Tea Party, Carl is under attack by..." Who, however, was going to correct the great man as he spoke his lines for the camera? Whoever dared would probably have seen Paladino's vaunted managerial skills in action.

We should have expected nothing different from a candidate who told the editors of my paper that being governor was a "magnanimous" job. At this rate, it may not be a problem for Rick Lazio, Paladino's rival, that he lacks money for a major ad campaign this month. Let Paladino swamp the airwaves with ads like this one, and Lazio should be a sure thing on primary day.