Maloney Endorses for AG; Saujani Launches Website

By [Dan Rivoli] Rep. Carolyn Maloney endorsed her fellow Manhattanite Eric Schneiderman in the attorney general primary. Schneiderman, a state senator from the Upper West Side, is running against [four other attorney general candidates](http://nypress.com/2010/09/01/attorney-general-candidates-share-vision-for-office/). In Maloney's endorsement statement, she praises Schneiderman for advocating on behalf of "working families." "Whether it's fighting for women's rights, economic justice or government reform, Eric has stood up for progressive values and delivered results for all New Yorkers," Maloney said. Meanwhile, in her own primary campaign, Maloney received the endorsement of the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association. They cite her work on the 9/11 first responders and survivors health care bill. Maloney's opponent Reshma Saujani launched a website called [TheRealCarolynMaloney.com](http://therealcarolynmaloney.com). The website features a video of Maloney speaking to an audience at a Cretan Association of New York event. The 20-second clip shows Maloney trying to answer a question from a woman in the audience who asked why she [voted against a bill to audit the Federal Reserve](http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1207&tab=summary), which sets monetary policy and regulates banking institutions. (A version of the legislation was put into the financial reform bill that Maloney voted for and was signed into law.) As Maloney tries to answer, the question is repeated. Maloney starts to clap and asks the rest of the audience to do the same to drown out the woman in the audience so that she could answer. Her campaign says the hecklers were conservative activists and [LaRouchites](http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lyndon_LaRouche). Saujani's website invites visitors to take a quiz with loaded questions, such as whether a member of Congress should respond to your question by "mocking you in front of your neighbors?" or if you believe that elected officials should "tell the truth." Maloney's campaign responded with this statement:

This is just another desperate campaign tactic from a candidate who is failing to gain traction and whose campaign has been criticized by independent organizations and newspapers. Voters in Manhattan and Queens know the real Carolyn Maloney and her record of standing up for consumers and fighting for working families.