Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino have something in common. On Tuesday night, both men dined on Poached Lobster with Chilled White Gazpacho. That was a menu item at the annual Alfred E. Smith dinner to benefit Catholic organizations in New York City.
Cuomo was there as an invited guest. Paladino bought a ticket. And both ended up as political punching bags.
"Carl Paladino warned that if we had Elton John to entertain us tonight, he'd take me out," joked Al Smith IV, great grandson of the event's founder. Smith was referring to Paladino's recent remarks on gay marriage.
Smith's gibes about Cuomo got even more pointed.
"Our last elected Governor was afraid to take his socks off. Looks like our next Governor is afraid to take the gloves off," said the host.
Neither candidate spoke publicly after the dinner. Some of the attendees ackowledged it was unusual to see the two gubernatorial candidates in the same room, one night after they were two of seven sharing a debate stage at Hofstra.
Paladino has asked for a rematch, one-on-one againt Cuomo.
Republican Dan Dononvan, running for Attorney General against Democrat Eric Schneiderman, said, "There's other people running for attorney general besides myself and my opponent and they're not invited to our debate-- so i don't know how they decided that."
The fundraiser is expected to raise more than $1.5 million in grants for Catholic groups.
