Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday said she was “deeply troubled” that the state has begun running ads promoting New York’s economy – saying it breaks the soft-money ban she reached with opponent Rick Lazio.
“I am appalled that the state would be doing this and spending state taxpayer dollars to run it and I call on Mr. Lazio to end it immediately,” Clinton told reporters while campaigning on Long Island.
“It’s the second strike, and I am deeply troubled by the fact that this is going on.”
Clinton was responding to a story in yesterday’s Buffalo News reporting that the state’s Empire State Development Corp. has spent more than $100,000 on ads this month to promote the upstate economy.
“New York state’s economy is strong and our future has never looked brighter,” Gov. Pataki says in the upstate radio ad.
Campaigning upstate in Binghamton, Lazio called Clinton’s attack “laughable.”
“I just am flabbergasted that she would reach so far,” Lazio said.
“The fact is that these commercials have been running based on the ‘I love New York’ theme. I don’t know if Mrs. Clinton’s ever heard of that, of that slogan.”