The Debate
The summary, I think, is that there were genuine and not-insignificant differences on substance between the candidates on a number of issues, including - to name three more or less at random -- medical marijuana, the amount of state money for city public schools and the next leader of the MTA.
In terms of style, Suozzi handled himself well enough, attacking without appearing particularly shrill. But, to use the boxing metaphor so popular in debate coverage, a KO of Spitzer was never really on the cards.
John Koblin emailed over a few notes from Pace after the event on Suozzi's aggressive spin and a pre-debate rules controversy:
Paul Rivera, the new campaign manager for Suozzi, felt like his candidate wasn't combative enough. Even while offering direct attacks and sideswipes, Rivera said his candidate missed his chance to hurt his "filibustering" and "sweaty" opponent.-- Josh Benson"Tom needed to be more assertive," he said. "I thought he was too respectful."
Suozzi's strength, says Rivera: "His humor. He showed the people that he was a regular guy and not too hard and aggressive."
Suozzi also made an appearance to send two messages: One, he wants more debates ("After the debate ended, I went up to Eliot and asked, 'Wanna do it again? Wanna do it again?' He said, 'See you later.'"); two, to give some airtime about the "notes" incident before the debate.
Suozzi said he had a binder of notes up on the dais before the debate, which Mr. Spitzer said broke the rules. Portraying Mr. Spitzer as raving and mad, Suozzi said, "He's got a bad temper. I never saw him that angry before."
On the letter of the law, though, it seems Spitzer was right. An email dated last Friday from Jeremy Bitz of NY1 sent to the Spitzer Campaign, cites "bob" (as in View image">Bob Hardt) explaining the rules: "Can candidates bring notes? From bob, I believe you'll follow standard practice and provide pen/paper and not allow notes. As we said in the invite, these ground rules are non-negotiable."
Meanwhile, Christine Anderson, spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer, said Mr. Suozzi came off as "shrill" and "too hostile." And even though Mr. Spitzer at times seemed to be reaching hard to bat away his opponent's lashings, she the debate "didn't change the dial" on this race.
If this was supposed to be a "statewide debate," it was a ridiculous farce. Most of the questions concerned specific New York City-centric issues. What a cruel joke for upstate voters who tuned in hoping to hear more than a token mention of the various complex issues of concern to them this election year. This debate was being aired on cable systems all over the state, but all that people in Rochester or Watertown saw were downstate pols and downstate media gazing at their downstate navels. As usual, New York City media proves itself utterly incapable of assuming a mature statewide role in an election year.
I thought both candidates agreed on medical marijuana.
Nice spin, Paul. Criticize your candidate. Great job!!
Is Paul Rivera a complete idiot???? He sounds like an attorney who says I know my client is guilty but he deserves representation.
Never, never, never criticize your own candidate. Cardinal rule of spinning and he clearly failed.
Re: Paul Rivera; Remember what his former employer Carl McCall said of him, " he could screw up a one-car funeral." After last night's debate, the funeral in question is certainly for Tom Suozzi.
I was wrong - they did disagree about medical marijuana.
The only person who won last night was Mr.Faso. He clearly has a better grasp on how to fix NY than either Mr. Suozzi or Mr. Spitzer. Too bad he won
Yeah, NYCO, you upstaters don't get anything... except all our tax dollars that finance all the wonderful prisons you get as pork. FOAD, you bridge-and-tunneller.
We'll see how you feel about upstate when you need more water and electricity, Anonymous. Or do you think those magically come from the sky?
It is my understanding that Rivera's been quoted out of context, and was omly talking about Suozzi's reluctance to interupt Spitze when he went over the allloted time. He apparantly was quite clear that Suozzir had won the debate.
clearly your idea of spinning is some class you take in a gym. paul is acknowledging the fact that his client was aggressive, some pundits would say that he was too aggressive. paul is attempting to soften that view by stating that suozzi could have been even more so. you remind me of the cardinal rule of stupidity, don't speak if you don't know what you are talking about
clearly your idea of spinning is some class you take in a gym. paul is acknowledging the fact that his client was aggressive, some pundits would say that he was too aggressive. paul is attempting to soften that view by stating that suozzi could have been even more so. you remind me of the cardinal rule of stupidity, don't speak if you don't know what you are talking about
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