ALBANY -- Carl P. Paladino spent Tuesday trying again to reset his campaign from fiery rhetoric to a focus on what voters say they want addressed: public policy.

Stung by two straight days of criticism and nationwide media focus over controversial comments he made Sunday about gays, Paladino by Tuesday evening sought to apologize for the episode -- and move on.

But whether Paladino -- facing mocking by talk-show comedians, cold shoulders from Republicans and protests in the streets of Buffalo -- can stay on topic and away from the kinds of hot-button comments that has become a mainstay of his campaign depends largely on him, even his loyalists acknowledge.

Two days after railing against efforts to "brainwash" children into thinking being gay "is an equally valid or successful option," Paladino retreated, saying that he should have edited more carefully a speech he gave but that was partly written by the hosts at an Orthodox Jewish event in Brooklyn.

His campaign manager, Michael R. Caputo, later fell on his sword for Paladino and said that it was all his fault for not vetting the speech better.

"If elected as your governor, I will stand and fight for all gay New Yorkers' rights. I ask you for forgiveness on my poorly chosen words and the publication by others not involved with our campaign of [an] unredacted script that did not reflect my oral statement or match my personal feelings," Paladino said in a statement. An hour later, at a fundraiser near Albany that aides said would bring in at least $50,000, Paladino at first tried to halt any more discussion of the topic.

"No, we're staying on message right here," he said when asked about a written statement that came after even many Republicans had distanced themselves from the candidate since Sunday.

"Yeah, that's not on message, is it? We're not talking about that anymore," he snapped. Paladino said he had edited out one remark that talked about "dysfunctional homosexuals" but should have also taken out the line about brainwashing.

"I probably should have reviewed the thing a little bit better," he said of the prepared remarks. He said that he is "100 percent in favor of gay rights," except that he opposes marriage equality rights.

Paladino's Democratic opponent, Andrew M. Cuomo, who is comfortably ahead in the polls, declined to comment.

But Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic chairman, called Paladino's statement a "non-apology."

"It took two days of getting denounced by Democrats and Republicans alike for Carl Paladino to see fit to issue his non-apology," Jacobs said. "The fact that even now Paladino can't see his remarks as what they were -- a cynical attempt to divide New Yorkers -- shows just how out-of-touch he is with New York values. Non-apology not accepted."

A few hours earlier in Buffalo, more than 100 protesters, many sporting rainbow-colored flags and banners, gathered in front of Paladino-owned Ellicott Square, where he has his campaign headquarters. One sign read: "Bigotry, Homophobia, Adultery -- Are These Your Family Values, Carl?"

"We want to show people our strength ... and the power we have all across this state," said Jorien Brock, senior director of the Pride Center of Western New York, who noted that young people have committed suicide because of what she said is pressure from anti-gay antagonists. "This is not political; this is about awareness."

Others in the group took issue with Paladino's criticism of Cuomo for taking his daughters to a gay pride parade -- a position Paladino stuck to Tuesday evening in Albany.

"I want to be a pediatrician someday, and I don't think I'm a bad influence on children," said Bobby Kojouharov of Buffalo. "He has a very bigoted point of view. I don't really understand it, and it's hurtful."

"He said we should not be allowed around children, for some reason, and that we are depraved," added his partner, Mike Kandefer of Buffalo.

Another protest is being planned outside Ellicott Square for today -- just hours before Paladino is to host what aides say will be a "major" fundraiser in the building.

"By his own words, Carl Paladino has made himself the poster boy for the kind of divisive leadership that makes young [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people] question their self-worth and gives license to those who use violence to advance their hate," said Joe Solmonese, president of Human Rights Campaign, a major national gay rights group.

In Buffalo and Albany, Gov. David A. Paterson condemned Paladino, saying the episode -- and Paladino's failure to quickly condemn attacks on three gays in the Bronx -- shows Paladino's "lack of fitness" to be governor.

Paladino's attempt to change the conversation in the campaign first appeared in a morning interview on WOR Radio in New York, where he acknowledged that people may not be paying attention to his larger message about cutting state spending and taxes.

"The problem was I definitely stepped on my message in the past two weeks twice," Paladino said in the interview.

But Paladino said he is not all to blame. He says it was his fault for stepping over his broader policy message delivered at a breakfast gathering of business executives last week when he called Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, "a criminal." But he blamed the media for two other distractions: his recent shouting match with a tabloid reporter in Lake George and the comments about gays Sunday. He insisted he did not deliver the most "offensive" remarks in that speech -- most notably a line in which he say there is nothing proud in being a "dysfunctional homosexual" -- which he edited out.

"Apology for what? What did I say?" Paladino told WOR.

By Tuesday evening, his campaign was issuing what it called an apology for the Sunday controversy. In it, Paladino said suggestions that he is anti-gay are "inconsistent with my lifelong beliefs and actions."

Caputo said Paladino's friends and family members urged him to be more aggressive in an effort to end the controversy.

"That message was not getting through," Caputo said of the candidate's efforts starting Monday to stress that he is not anti-gay.

Supporters were pushing him to stay focused. "Today, he's back on message and hopefully he stays on that message," said Michael R. Long, the state Conservative Party chairman. "He is an unconventional candidate, there's no question about that, and he's never been involved in politics before."

The apology came as the Paladino campaign began its first real statewide television media ad campaign of its general election run. Caputo suggested that it will cost in excess of $1 million and includes purchases in the expensive downstate market.

The ads come after weeks of a blistering ad campaign by Cuomo, who has been on the airwaves defining both himself and Paladino in ways meant to strengthen his already strong position in the polls.

Cuomo also began airing a new TV ad that seeks to portray Paladino as an "Albany insider" for the state tax breaks he has received, as well as the leases that his Buffalo real estate company has obtained from the state.

In his new ad, Paladino turns the "Albany insider" line on Cuomo and seeks to link him with Albany politicians "who have failed us."

News Political Reporter Robert J. McCarthy contributed to this report.

tprecious@buffnews.comnull