Too clever by half
The governor's race in New York this year has the self-aggrandizing incumbent, Andrew Cuomo, in the Democratic corner. In the Republican corner is Rob Astorino, someone I had never heard of before he was nominated and someone I'll soon forget unless he pulls off an upset like George Pataki's defeat of Mario Cuomo-Andrew's father-20 years ago.
Anyway, an attack ad Cuomo's minions have been running berates Astorino and his running mate for their failure to release their tax returns for public scrutiny. Astorino, the ad claims, has released a return for only one year, while his running mate has released none.
Why are they withholding? the ads ask. What are they hiding? And then, the finishing line:
"You can't clean up Albany with dirty hands."
So: an attack ad from Cuomo's minions says, in effect, that Albany needs to be cleansed of rampant political corruption-a cleanup that did not occur during Cuomo's term.
This is an attack ad that inflicts damage on both sides. A good trick, that.
(I voted for Andrew Cuomo but over the last couple of years have come to believe he works better as a concept.)