WMHT has put out a new promo reflecting the fact that, of the three candidates invited to tomorrow night's debate, only two will actually show up. Democrat Scott Murphy will debate with Libertarian Eric Sundwall. Jimmy Disco will will twitter himself silly in "3-D".
First, WMHT's sad promo for what was supposed to be the second debate between Scott Murphy and Jim Tedisco. Note that Susan Arbetter informs the viewer that WMHT and the Times Union invited both candidates in the race "to discuss the issues."
Too bad one of those candidates has decided to deprive the folks of the 20th of an actual debate. Why? because he's staging some event he's calling "Jim Tedisco in 3-D". No, really. You can't make this stuff up.
Republican and Conservative congressional candidate turned down an invitation to participate in the WMHT/Times Union debate on Thursday because he already had his own multi-media event planned, said Adam Kramer, a spokesman.
Tedisco will conduct a "Jim Tedisco in 3-D" campaign forum at 7 p.m. Thursday at his campaign headquarters in Halfmoon, Kramer said.
People will be able to participate in three different ways: in person, via telephone conference call or via the Internet, he said.
Democratic, Independence and Working Families candidate Scott Murphy and Libertarian candidate Eric Sundwall, the same evening, will participate the WMHT/Times Union debate to be televised live on WMHT, WSKG and Mountain Lakes PBS public television stations.
Kramer said the Tedisco and Murphy campaign had previously agreed to participate in four debates, that did not include the WMHT/Times Union event.
Tedisco had already planned his own event on Thursday when he was invited to the fifth debate, Kramer said.
That's right. Jim Tedisco is going to skip the only debate televised on three PBS stations covering the entire district so that he can peddle himself in person, on the phone and online, ya know, in "3-D". Maybe he'll twitter himself into a 4th dimension.
Or something.
What he won't be doing is debating the issues that concern the people of the 20th CD with anyone other than his own three dimensional ego.
He'll spend Thursday night not debating Scott Murphy or taking questions from the Times Union or making the case for his candidacy, but taking "questions" from supporters in his very own safe little echo chamber.
Tedisco and Murphy have confirmed they will do the Times Union/WMHT debate March 19. The live, televised debate will be hosted by WMHT's Susan Arbetter and TU editor Rex Smith.
The League of Women Voters of Saratoga, Rensselaer and Columbia counties announced a debate today in conjunction with NewsTalk 590 WROW. The debate, which will also include Libertarian candidate Eric Sundwall, will be held at the Latham Holiday Inn Express. Sherman Baldwin, host of "Afternoon Drive" and WROW program director, will moderate the debate.
...
The LWV debate will be town hall style. The hotel is not in the 20th Congressional district but it is centrally-located.
I listened and was very disappointed at the end. Hardwick didn't do his job yesterday. Sure, he ran the debate and asked the usual and predictable questions, but he didn't ask Lee about the incident involving Lee and breaking into a company's computers nearly 20 years ago. That incident led to Lee's firing and something he calls "a mistake."
I'm not going to pound on Hardwick, but I do remember quite well that he made it a point to bring up War Kids Relief and the issues raised with that to Jon Powers. I'm not looking for retribution. I'm looking for fairness.
Lee should have to speak, on the record, explaining his actions.
Now, there are also two versions of "mistakes": There are real mistakes where people screw up. Those things happen. I make mistakes on a daily basis. I might send an e-mail to the wrong person or forget to mail something my girlfriend asked me to do. It happens.
But then there are the other "mistakes." Those are the mistakes that aren't really mistakes at all. The word "mistake" just happens to be used to lessen the actual events and make it seem like it was something small. Sending an e-mail to the wrong person? Rather small and harmless. Using the credit manager's password to raise credit limits for his customers and other customers. That's not a "mistake." There was intent there.
Yes, it was 20 years ago. But what Lee did amounts to a crime. Certainly he isn't going to be tried and put away now and whether he faced criminal charges at the time remains unknown. That is exactly why Lee should have to answer questions about this. If Alice Kryzan has to answer questions about Love Canal, it is only fair for Lee to have to face questions about his "mistake."
And while I'm grateful that Lee's "mistake" was made public, the saying "it's better late than never" can't apply here. It was far too late to make a difference. Unlike Kryzan, Lee was never truly vetted. He has denied charges that he has shipped jobs overseas by saying that those are attacks on his family and his patriotism. He has dodged talking about this issue, as evidenced here. When is Chris Lee going to be straight with us? When is he going to be honest? If he can't be honest on the campaign trail, how will he ever be trusted as this district's representative?
Here's some video from the debate between SD-55 challenger David Nachbar, a guy who has actually created jobs upstate, and GOP incumbent Jim Alesi, who has not.
This segment includes both candidate's opening statements as well as their responses to the moderator's first question. I like the producer's use of a split screen for long sequences. Pay attention to Alesi. He looks like he really doesn't even want to be there.
To say that Nachbar outclasses Alesi in both style and intellect is something of an understatement...
This one is quite a doozy. Here, Caesar Trunzo attempts to share his thoughts on immigration, but what comes out doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I especially love the part where Trunzo speaks about those who "speak hispanic" or about how he has helped many immigrants "become senators."
I've got tons of video from the debate I never thought would happen, the debate between Caesar Trunzo (R-FL) and Brian Foley. In this clip, Caesar claims to have invented the rather controversial Intermodal project and then furiously and clumsily tries to backtrack.
UPDATE: From the Foley campaign:
"I was for it before I was against it"
Trunzo Starts up Intermodal, then Opposes it
"With Election Day around the corner, 36-year incumbent senator Caesar Trunzo is coming out swinging against a proposed intermodal facility that could potentially damage our environment and have a disastrous impact on traffic congestion.
Only one problem: Caesar Trunzo is the one who founded this ill-advised plan.
But don't take our word for it. Here's what Trunzo, himself, had to say about the intermodal facility in a News12 debate that aired on October 21, 2008.
"I created the intermodal. As Chairman of the (Senate) Transportation Committee, I started the whole process....members of the industry had indicated they would like to see rails, instead of trucks."
Of course, now that he's facing a tough reelection and hanging on to his seat for dear life, Trunzo is flip-flopping on this very important local issue, claiming he is now against the project.
Joe Mesi and Mike Ranzenhofer faced off on WBEN's "Hardline with Hardwick" this morning in a debate that featured a strong change message from Mesi and more of the same Republican talking points from Ranzenhofer.
Mesi had a strong debate and even faced a tough question about his connections to Tom Golisano and Steve Pigeon, which he weathered. Mesi labeled Ranzenhofer as a career politician and Ranzenhofer acted like it at times by trying to tell Mesi how he should act or how he should answer questions. Ranzenhofer patronized Mesi at multiple points throughout the debate and I don't think that did Ranzenhofer any favors.
There are plenty of differences between these two candidates. Ranzenhofer proposed 15 percent across-the-board spending cuts as his way of addressing out-of-control spending at the state level. Ranzenhofer argued that we need these cuts. The only programs he would exempt are monies for local governments and school districts. (Note: Hardwick pointed out that aid for schools and local governments make up a huge chunk of the budget. That didn't change Ranzenhofer's mind.) Mesi proposed a seven percent cut in capital spending and said he would target Medicaid fraud while protecting investments that we need to grow. Mesi also called for closing corporate loopholes and reforming Empire Zones and IDAs, which is something that wasn't addressed by Ranzenhofer.
Both candidates also differ on taxes. Ranzenhofer is pushing for a tax cap while Mesi is a supporter of the circuit breaker. Mesi said that a tax cap would be a good start, but in order to achieve the tax relief he wants, we need to implement a circuit breaker. Ranzenhofer dismissed the circuit breaker as a creation of the Assembly downstate Democrats that he would be a "killer" for upstate.
I watched the debate after the fact and it was really clear to me who the change candidate was. That was Rick Dollinger. Robach stuck to his pro-business talking points. He even resorted to aligning himself on multiple occasions with Democrats, a clear (or not-so clear) attempt at trying to win over members of the party that make up a larger part of the district. He made a number of references to Governor David Paterson and made at least one mention to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo when he took credit for working with Cuomo on setting up Project Sunlight.
Robach also used the same old Republican talking point about New York City and Democrats over and over again. That was a main theme of his whenever he would answer a question.
On taxes, he stressed that he supports both a tax cap AND circuit breaker - an interesting position that he has stood by even when many are split over both of those proposals. He believes (and believes correctly, in my view) that a tax cap CANNOT work without the circuit breaker. Remember - a tax cap won't lower your taxes by itself. It just caps the amount that your taxes can be raised. The New York Timessummed it up best:
Under the commission's preliminary proposal, counties, towns and school districts would be allowed to raise property taxes by 120 percent of the consumer price index or 4 percent each year, whichever is lower. Breaking the cap would require approval by at least 55 percent of the voters in a given district. And those districts that increased spending by less than the cap would be allowed to use a portion of the difference in future years.
In other words, instead of being able to raise your taxes by about seven percent a year (that has been the norm), taxes could only be raised up to four percent every year.
My favorite part of the debate was when the candidates asked each other a question. Listen to Dollinger's question to Robach and then listen to the beginning of Robach's response. He says that there is "good change and bad change." That was a bizarre line to me.
Dollinger won the debate. Dollinger is way too intelligent for Robach. Dollinger has a great grasp on the issues and when it comes to reforming Albany, not too many people (including sitting state senators) can match Dollinger's desire to change Albany and his plan for reforming the state Legislature. It's easy to utter the word "change." But it's another to propose ideas. People like ideas. And I think people will end up liking Dollinger and wanting him to be their state senator.
Democratic and Republican Candidates for Congress Face-Off In Public Forum
On Columbus Day, Democrat Paul Tonko and Republican Jim Buhrmaster met at the Dean Alexander Moot Court Room at Albany Law School for one of their only debates open to the public. The seats in the lecture hall were about half full, and the Albany Law Schools College Democrats and College Republicans both sponsored the debate.
Local radio personality Al Roney of 810WGY moderated the debate for an hour's worth of questions he posed to the candidates after Tonko and Buhrmaster were allowed to make opening statements. Following this, representatives from the College Democrats and College Republicans asked the candidates questions posed from the audience, which is where the fireworks have always come in the debates to replace retiring Representative Mike McNulty (D-Green Island) since this campaign was in Primary mode.
Now that the 21st and the entire nation is in full General Election mode, jump below the fold to see what each candidates' answer to each question was...in detail that is nowhere to be found in the local media.
Barack is moving ahead with plans for Friday's debate.
The election is less than 40 days away, and the American people deserve to hear directly from the candidates about how they intend to lead our country.
I never thought I would have the chance to lump John McCain in with the likes of Joe Robach and Caesar Trunzo, but tomorrow might be the night. If this debate were to be canceled, the university stands to lose $5.5 million.
So how would the people of Mississippi feel if McCain doesn't show up? Apparently, they won't be too happy.
"I tell you what, if John McCain doesn't show up, there's going to be a lot of people in this town that will be mad as hell," said Leslie, a 42-year-old Oxford native who drives one of the shuttles commissioned specifically for the debate.
I asked some of my fellow bus travelers to help me come up with a comparison that represents how John McCain is undercutting Mississippi's good ole Southern hospitality.
"It's like going on a blind date and finding out she's ugly," John, a mustachiod man from California who is a student. "As far as I see it, if you're Mississippi, you still go on that date because it's the right thing do."
That's why so many Mississippians are so mad. John McCain is trying to stand them up, and the locals don't take too kindly to that kind of rudeness.
Would that anger be enough to toss it Obama's way? Probably not. McCain has a double digit lead in Mississippi, but if he doesn't show it certainly will make a lot of people angry and will make a whole university very angry, I'm sure.
Tracey Brooks, Darius Shahinfar, Phil Steck, and Paul Tonko Make Closing Statements
The full transcript of the final forum between the four serious contendors to replace retiring Rep. Mike McNulty, held Sunday August 24, concludes below the fold with their final case before a shared audience as to why Democratic primary voters in New York's 21st Congressional District should nominate them for the general election in November.
Tracey Brooks, Darius Shahinfar, Phil Steck, and Paul Tonko Debate Audience Questions
The full transcript of the final forum between the four serious contendors to replace retiring Rep. Mike McNulty, held Sunday August 24, continues below the fold...
Tracey Brooks, Darius Shahinfar, Phil Steck, and Paul Tonko Debate Energy Policy
The full transcript of the final forum between the four serious contendors to replace retiring Rep. Mike McNulty, held Sunday August 24, continues below the fold with the candidates' answers to questions on energy policy.
Tracey Brooks, Darius Shahinfar, Phil Steck, and Paul Tonko Debate Each Other
The full transcript of the final forum between the four serious contendors to replace retiring Rep. Mike McNulty, held Sunday August 24, continues below the fold with the candidates' answers to questions they ask of each other.
Tracey Brooks, Darius Shahinfar, Phil Steck, and Paul Tonko Debate Domestic Policy
The full transcript of the final forum between the four serious contendors to replace retiring Rep. Mike McNulty, held Sunday August 24, continues below the fold with the candidates' answers to questions on domestic policy
Tracey Brooks, Darius Shahinfar, Phil Steck, and Paul Tonko Debate Foreign Policy
The full transcript of the final forum between the four serious contendors to replace retiring Rep. Mike McNulty, held Sunday August 24, continues below the fold with the candidates' answers to questions on foreign policy.
Mesi had a strong debate and even faced a tough question about his connections to Tom Golisano and Steve Pigeon, which he weathered. Mesi labeled Ranzenhofer as a career politician and Ranzenhofer acted like it at times by trying to tell Mesi how he should act or how he should answer questions. Ranzenhofer patronized Mesi at multiple points throughout the debate and I don't think that did Ranzenhofer any favors.
