If you missed the New York gubernatorial "debate," you missed one of the funniest shows on TV this season. Thanks to the insistence of Republican/Tea Party candidate Carl Paladino, five minor party candidates got to join the two leaders. I suppose the plan was intended to allow Paladino to keep his mouth shut as much as possible, to minimize the likelihood of his foot going in, but it didn't quite work out that way. Paladino came over considerably more inept than the candidates from the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and the former Black Panther running on the Freedom Party line. For a while he seemed a little brighter than Kristin Davis of the Anti-Prohibition Party (the woman best known for being Eliot Spitzer's procuress), but then he wandered off the platform in search of a rest room during the final arguments. Exit, stage right, Carl Paladino.
Andrew Cuomo used his total time of twelve minutes to spin generalities, doing his best to look dull and responsible. (Well, maybe he is dull and responsible.) The candidate who stole the show, however, was Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is 2 Damn High Party. Follow the link to his website and have a good time. I have a feeling Jimmy will be winning quite a few protest votes on November 2 — maybe even my own.
Showing posts with label governor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label governor. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
Monday, September 21, 2009
Unnecessary Roughness
Governor David Paterson is pissed. Who can blame him?
Okay, he's not especially popular at the moment. He never was. Trying to act responsibly — shutting down underutilized hospitals and nursing homes — was a major political mistake, and the attack ads from 1199 did a lot of damage. Add to that the fact that he was stuck with a totally unfair share of the blame for New York's sleazy and dysfunctional legislative branch, and that he's not exactly a dynamo of charisma, and it was bound to look bad for him.
So it is not surprising that Obama's political staff decided it would be better if he didn't run for governor next time around. Personally, I don't think Giuliani is much of a threat anymore — he kind of has "loser" tattooed on his forehead — but it wouldn't hurt at all to have a stronger Democratic candidate like Andrew Cuomo.
Okay, so the national party sends an emissary to urge Paterson to withdraw. Fine. The problem is in how it was done.
First, it was just plain bad manners not to invite the governor of New York to Obama's speech to Wall Street last week. Second, it was worse that, simultaneously, the President's chief political adviser, Patrick Gaspard, was telling Paterson to pull out of the race. Third, it should not have been Gaspard, the man behind those 1199 attack ads.
Then it gets worse: practically the complete text of the "confidential" conference is leaked to the press, almost immediately, by an "unnamed source" whose name probably is Patrick Gaspard. Obama not only yanked Paterson's legs out from under him, but he pissed on him when he was down. I truly hope the idiots still drooling over our "idealistic young president" are paying attention, but I'm pretty sure they're not.
Paterson could have been persuaded to withdraw gracefully. They could have offered him some ceremonial role at HUD, or made him ambassador to Anguilla, or something. They didn't.
However lacking David Paterson's skills as a chief executive may be, everybody in Albany agrees on one thing about him — he's a nice guy.
He deserved better.
Okay, he's not especially popular at the moment. He never was. Trying to act responsibly — shutting down underutilized hospitals and nursing homes — was a major political mistake, and the attack ads from 1199 did a lot of damage. Add to that the fact that he was stuck with a totally unfair share of the blame for New York's sleazy and dysfunctional legislative branch, and that he's not exactly a dynamo of charisma, and it was bound to look bad for him.
So it is not surprising that Obama's political staff decided it would be better if he didn't run for governor next time around. Personally, I don't think Giuliani is much of a threat anymore — he kind of has "loser" tattooed on his forehead — but it wouldn't hurt at all to have a stronger Democratic candidate like Andrew Cuomo.
Okay, so the national party sends an emissary to urge Paterson to withdraw. Fine. The problem is in how it was done.
First, it was just plain bad manners not to invite the governor of New York to Obama's speech to Wall Street last week. Second, it was worse that, simultaneously, the President's chief political adviser, Patrick Gaspard, was telling Paterson to pull out of the race. Third, it should not have been Gaspard, the man behind those 1199 attack ads.
Then it gets worse: practically the complete text of the "confidential" conference is leaked to the press, almost immediately, by an "unnamed source" whose name probably is Patrick Gaspard. Obama not only yanked Paterson's legs out from under him, but he pissed on him when he was down. I truly hope the idiots still drooling over our "idealistic young president" are paying attention, but I'm pretty sure they're not.
Paterson could have been persuaded to withdraw gracefully. They could have offered him some ceremonial role at HUD, or made him ambassador to Anguilla, or something. They didn't.
However lacking David Paterson's skills as a chief executive may be, everybody in Albany agrees on one thing about him — he's a nice guy.
He deserved better.
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