ALBANY — In a sometimes farcical faceoff, Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Carl Paladino pummeled Albany dysfunction instead of each other last night in their first face-to-face encounter of the governor’s race.
In the 90-minute debate that forced them to share the stage with 5 wackadoo fringe candidates, the tough-talking rivals — who had spent the last month trading vicious blows — never even mentioned each other’s name.
The showdown had its bizarre moments — like when Paladino bolted from the stage in the middle of the candidates’ closing arguments. “When you gotta go, you gotta go,” he spokesman explained later.
Perhaps the most riveting presence on the Hofstra University stage was the black-glove clad Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is Too Damn High Party who ended his lightning-quick speeches by loudly proclaiming: “The rent is too damn high!”
At one point, that prompted Cuomo to say: “I’m with Jimmy, the rent is too damn high.”
Also on stage were Libertarian Warren Redlich, the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins and self-proclaimed “Manhattan Madam” Kristin Davis, who advocates legalizing the prostitution, gambling and pot.
Redlich drew a contrast between himself and other New York pols: “I’ve never been caught with a prostitute, my dad wasn’t governor, and I’ve never been convicted of a crime.”
Davis got in a zinger when she blasted the stock transfer tax, saying, “Businesses will leave the state faster than Carl Paladino at a gay bar.”
She called Albany “whores and said she had “the right experience to deal with them.”
Passing up a chance to take shots at each other Cuomo and Paladino trained their guns on corruption and government waste as they left the attacks to minor party candidates assembled for the unusual gubernatorial free-for-all.
Cuomo, the son of three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo, said the state needed to show no tolerance for the “unending escapade of corruption and embarrassment” in state government.
“I know this state like nobody else on this stage,” Cuomo said. “I understand the disgust with Albany, and I share it.”
Paladino appeared unusually reserved.
“My critics, they want to say I’m angry,” Paladino said. “No, I’m passionate about saving the State of New York. Our government doesn’t need a tweaking. It needs a major overhaul, now.”
Paladino occasionally showed some fire, like when he denounced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as “the poster child for waste, fraud, incompetence, patronage, no-show contracts, absolute mismanagement” and promised to take control of the agency.
The closest the Buffalo real estate mogul came to an attack on Cuomo was in his closing statement, when he vaguely asserted that he was “not the candidate up to his neck in special interest campaign contributions.”
Cuomo himself unloaded at least once, but his target was City Councilman Charles Barron, a fellow Democrat, not Paladino.
The so-called Freedom Party candidate, who has railed against the lack of a black candidate on Cuomo’s ticket, assailed the attorney general’s proposed budget plans.
“Cuomo’s going to be the king of layoffs, trust me,” he said.
“If they go with you Charles, there’s no jobs,” Cuomo shot back.
Experts blasted the cattle-call style debate, which they said prevented candidates from delving deeply into the issues.
“The candidates couldn’t have spoken for more than 10 minutes [each],” said Jeanne Zaino, a political science professor from Iona College.
“It’s a travesty. New Yorkers deserve better in terms of substantive discussion.”
Additional reporting by Jennifer Fermino and Sally Goldenberg
Brendan.scott@nypost.com