| Update 2 First question to Kirsten regarding her being only New Yorker voting against TARP. She answers by talking about the lack of oversight and auditing.
Moderator asks if she regrets vote because of its success. Gillibrand says not at all.
Turning to DioGuardi he switches to talking about Gillibrand voting for Stimulues, healthcare and voting with Obama.
Kirsten rebuts by pointing out that DioGuardi changed the subject and didn't address the same bill.
Update 3 Liz Benjamin asks DioGuardi about his statement that Reagan was greatest President and whether he could point to a time in the House where he was independent from Reagan (referring back to his attack on Kirsten as not independent from Obama) and how would he be independent in the Senate.
DioGuardi points to one vote when he didn't vote with Reagan and then answers again that he will vote for what is best for his constituents. He says parties are not working.
Liz points question to Kirsten. Says Obama and Schumer protected her from a primary. How would she be independent.
I've always been independent. I don't take a back seat to anyone. But I think this is a false question. Sen. Schumer and I agree often. "I'm glad Sen. Schumer agrees with me so often."
Kirsten speaks forcefully and strongly. DioGuardi is a little quieter and more hesitant in his speaking.
Liz asks again for her to point to a particular vote. She highlights a few votes and goes right into wonk mode in describing the legislation, it's strengths and weaknesses.
She also highlight DADT and Immigration and how she doesn't feel Obama has taken it on strongly enough.
Update 4 DADT ruling.
Kirsten launches into the problems of DADT and how it is harmful to our military preparedness. She then talks about the fundamental unconstitutionality of limiting free speech of gay americans. "Corrosive, discriminatory policy"
DioGuardi says "why rush?" But he also says he would have no problem serving with a gay soldier next to him.
Kirsten says "We will repeal this law"
DioGuardi says he'll accept what ever the decision is but again, why rush.
Update 5 Next question on education and performance ratings for teachers. I missed part of it. Network connectivity issue intervened. I gather something about a report on teacher performance report and publishing names of teachers that get failing grades. Neither candidate knows what report is being talked about.
Kirsten talks about her accomplishments in bringing people together to solve problems in schools and not just relying on some report (I gather this was a hypothetical report on the reporters part).
DioGuardi says reduce adminstrative costs and put it into teaching.
Next question
Update 6 Foreign involvement - in so many countries - which should we stay involved in and which not...
Kirsten "And I have only 1 minute?" laughter
Can we be successful in counter insurgent strategy with a partner that is unreliable in Karzai?
Question rephrased - which countries are priorities?
No single answer or silver bullet. Look for risks where they emerge. She mentioned several countries that are current hotspots. She mentions cyber terrorism. Says sometimes investments are best made towards prevention.
DioGuardi "How could you forget about Iran?"
Iran threatening Israel. Supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, wants nuclear weapon.
DioGuardi:
Says Iraq was a big mistake. We should never have gone to war. Asks why did Obama escalated war in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is not the problem. It's Pakistan. Karzai is a crook. Goes back to Iran.
Kirsten: I do think Iran's nuclear goal is serious. Iran supplies military technology to others. Mentions terrorist organizations and dirty bomb threat.
DioGuardi agrees with that last.
Update 7: Candidates ask direct questions to each other.
Kirsten asks DioGuardi about his Social Security position. He calls it a Ponzi scheme again.
DioGuardi says Kirsten tries to conceal the fact she worked for HUD and was one of key people hiding sub-prime loans. Follows up with her Tobacco lawyer role. Says her actions frustrated attempts to learn about dangers of tobacco harm.
Gillibrand:
"Mr. DioGuardi your allegations are absurd."
At HUD I did not work on sub-prime loans.
With regard to tobacco she cites her voting record as pure and turns around and cites his record of supporting big tobacco when he was in Congress.
Calls his allegations as absurd again.
DioGuardi cites a book with a whole chapter on her role at HUD and with tobacco.
Kirsten tells DioGuardi "Don't believe everything you read."
Update 8
Question from reporter about DioGuardi's record while in Congress, something about a car dealership and his taxes. He says he was audited one time and it was routine. He says the dealership issue was one guy on his staff that did something wrong that he found out about later.
Update 9
Question about healthcare vote and other democrats running away from it.
Kirsten defends healthcare vote and begins citing the things it does well. Reporter ask why are others running away. She says lots of people don't understand what is really in it. Talks about soundbite politics. Says its a good bill. Reporter tries to pin her down on what others are saying again. She says she can't speak for others.
DioGuardi says the bill does nothing to cut costs. Says tort reform is Democrats third rail and nothing even said about it. Says its because Congress is full of lawyers. She is the 57th. He would be the 2nd CPA. You decide. He runs over time again.
Update 10
Question to DioGuardi about Kirsten's appointment and the process. Should there be appointment or special election. To his credit he doesn't take the opportunity to attack her but says there should probably be an election rather than appointment but moves on to redistricting reform and other reform issues as more important.
She says the process is fine and uses the opportunity to talk about things she has accomplished. She points out that this is the special election.
He jumps in to make the attack he missed earlier and says the process is not fine and gives her an unfair advantage over him.
Update 11
Question about how many jobs will she create. She says you can't cite numbers and that people create jobs. She then goes into Congress passing legislation that helps people get the loans and tax cuts that help them create jobs.
Question rephrased "Is it ok for politician to say I'll bring in X number of jobs." She says you can't really say how many jobs your particular policy will create. You should talk about the ideas that will help make the difference.
Question rephrased again to try to get her to answer again about something Hillary Clinton said about how many jobs she would create. She said that was Hillary's to say not hers.
DioGuardi points out jobs that have been lost during last 2 years. He blames Democrats for loss of jobs and poor economy. He over runs time yet again.
Lightening round
Yes or No answers only
Has tea party been good for America
Kirsten: No. DioGuardi: Yes
Abortion allowable for rape or incest:
DioGuardi: yes except for funding. Kirsten: Yes
Should Cuomo debate Paladino one on one:
Kirsten: No DioGuardi: Yes
DioGuardi keeps having a hard time answering just yes or no.
Should Hevesi go to prison?
DioGuardi: Yes
Kirstens: long hesitation - first none yes/no answer - its a prosecutors decision
Smoking should be banned at parks and beaches - both yes
Attend ground breaking for Manhatten Mosque: Kirsten Yes DioGuardi: No
Hillary good VP candidate in 2012:
DioGuardi: "could be" then "no" Kirsten Yes
Did Anita Hill tell the truth?
DioGuardi: No Kirsten: Yes
Final question - Is the rent too damn high?
Kirsten: Yes DioGuardi: something I missed and the later "I agree"
Update 12
Question about Kirsten's appearance as an issue?
DioGuardi says do you want a senator that strikes a pose or a CPA?
Kirsten says her appearance should be irrelevant and real issues should be the factor but she talks about how women are judged on such things and about women as role models. She says it is a real issue that stops women from getting involved.
DioGuardi agrees with her and cites the strong women in his life.
Update 13
Question about Cuomo's management style.
Kirsten says Andrew Cuomo has a strong management style and that he will be a strong leader to tackle the problems New York faces. She cites his actions and leadership on fair housing and fighting KKK while he was at HUD.
DioGuardi says he wishes they had had a one on one debate. He goes back to attack on HUD under Cuomo and ties Kirsten to it. Says Cuomo should be held accountable.
Liz follows up asking if Paladino can be an effective governor given everything that has come up.
DioGuardi says let him continue to make his case and let the people choose.
Liz asks if he still supports him. He says he will vote for him but doesn't exactly answer the question.
Update 14
Question on campaign financing.
DioGuardi doesn't support public financing but says costs that go into TV advertising needs to be cut. Doesn't say how.
Kirsten says we have problems with lack of transparency. Says we need full transparency. The need to know what CEO or whoever is behind a given ad. Cites concern on foreign involvement in our elections.
DioGuardi breaks in and says foreign money is not involved in our elections. Kirsten retorts "How would you know?"
Update 15
Question about immigration checks on transit trains here? (I may have missed that a little)
Kirsten says racial profiling is a serious problem. DioGuardi basically agrees that it would lead to non-American practices.
Closing remarks
Kirsten - Washington is broken. Talks about posting earmarks requests online as example of openness. Talks about filibuster reform. Talks about jobs.
DioGuardi - says Gillibrand has had 2 year trial and has failed. Says it is time to give Joe DioGuardi a 2 year trial. He then says America needs transparency and America needs a CPA to keep the American dream alive. Runs over time again. Shouts over moderator.
Moderator thanks everyone and closes the debate.
My Conclusion
Joe DioGuardi is running for the position of United States CPA. He seems like a decent enough fellow for a Republican. Spoke quietly. Wasn't particularly nasty but repeated the same attacks and positions we always hear out of Republicans.
Kirsten Gillibrand was forceful and strong. She was wonky and showed she knows the issues in depth at every chance. She handled his attacks directly and thereby didn't allow them to work. Neither really flubbed anything. no knock-outs. If this were a boxing match she'd have won on points... by a large amount. Kirsten Gillibrand showed she is running to be the United States Senator from New York, that she currently is the United States Senator from New York and that she is fully qualified to be the United States Senator from New York.
But if you find yourself needing a CPA Joe DioGuardi is probably perfectly capable of filling the role though... actually... he didn't really show that particularly well in the debate. He just said it every chance he got. |
