Paladino Works to Stay on Message Despite Fresh Round of Embarrassing Headlines

Oct. 14, 2010— -- Tea Party candidate Carl Paladino rolled his eyes and tried to ignore another burst of embarrassing headlines today, which included more pornographic emails, business deals that may anger anti-abortion supporters, and a picture of a campaign adviser marching shirtless in a gay pride parade.

The Republican candidate for governor of New York told ABC News Now's "Topline" program that the headlines have not hurt his ability to discuss campaign issues.

"Absolutely not," Paladino said. "We're out there speaking issues every day. We're talking about our issues."

"The press has pressed on those issues and they think the people are interested," he said. "We think that people are more interested in overburdened government spending, taxes, government corruption, Medicaid out of control, the lack of interest in jobs and the lack of a plan to create new jobs. That's what the people are interested in today."

New Yorkers, however, awoke today not to stories about Paladino's platform but a flurry of new revelations, including evidence that the anti-abortion crusader leases space in one of his shopping centers to Planned Parenthood, which provides pre- and post-abortion services, according to the New York Post.

The Paladino campaign acknowledged that the clinic leases space at the Paladino-owned Haeberle Plaza Shopping Center in Buffalo and said he was obliged by an existing agreement to allow Planned Parenthood to keep the space.

"Planned Parenthood was in a building Carl bought recently and he was bound by lease requirements to move them into another property when he demolished their building to construct a Rite Aid. Carl does not break the law or contracts even in pursuit of his personal beliefs," campaign spokesman RobinWolfgang told ABC News.

The campaign was also rocked when a raft of new explicit emails Paladino had forwarded to friends and colleagues surfaced this week. The emails includes explicit images of lesbian sex, despite his comments earlier this week that he found the displays of homosexual affection at gay pride parades "disgusting."

Paladino Brushes Off Fresh Headlines

"The latest round of emails are not news and not relevant to the campaign," Wolfgang said.

Paladino has been dogged since announcing his campaign by pornographic and offensive emails he has sent that included doctored photos of the president and Michelle Obama dressed as a pimp and prostitute and un-doctored images of a woman having sex with a horse.

In addition, campaign adviser Roger Stone was featured in newspaper photos today from a gay pride parade in New York this past March. The photos of the shirtless Stone being licked by a topless woman appeared in the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

"As for Roger Stone he is a private citizen not paid by the campaign and is entitled to a private life," Wolfgang said.

Earlier in the campaign, Paladino made headlines by threatening "I'll take you out" to New York Post reporter Ferderic Dicker when Dicker pressed Paladino to back up his accusation that Democratic rival Andrew Cuomo had an affair while still married.

Paladino rolled his eyes and brushed aside a question about Dicker on "Topline" today.

"We're done with talking about Fred Dicker. I don't apologize for that," Paladino told "Top Line.

"Now we're going to go on," said Paladino. "We'll tell you about Medicaid… The waste, the fraud, the abuse, is absolutely unbearable."

When asked about his disparaging comment about gays and his subsequent apology, Paladino replied brusquely, "We're done with that one. It's all over… It's really done. If you want to know what we're going to do about government corruption, I'll appoint a special prosecutor."