Foes snarl over gov race debate
ALBANY — The race between Gov. Cuomo and Republican challenger Marc Molinaro has devolved into a debate over debates.
Molinaro — who has accepted debate invitations from NY1 and the state League of Women Voters — has ripped Cuomo for weeks for refusing thus far to square off.
But on Friday, during an appearance on WCBS radio in the city, Cuomo agreed to a debate that would take place Saturday morning, but the Republican turned it down.
"I am here. If you want to call me tomorrow, I will be here,” Cuomo said. “If you want to do it with Mr. Molinaro, I will be here. If you want to moderate a discussion, I will be here.”
Molinaro, however, balked an hour later when asked by the station, calling it a “staged fraud” to schedule a debate with zero planning and no television cameras.
“Have you ever heard of a presidential debate scheduled 12 hours before the debate?” Molinaro said.
He said he'd be willing to come on the radio station, but believes it should be on a weekday at an hour people can listen and television cameras present.
“On what planet does the incumbent governor get to dictate that voters come crawling to him at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning with no notice?” Molinaro said.
Molinaro a short time later put out a statement saying a Saturday morning debate would be offensive to Jewish voters who celebrate the Sabbath.
“Jewish voters are not an afterthought, but that's exactly how Andrew Cuomo is treating these important New Yorkers in preposterously suggesting a last-second Shabbat morning radio debate,” he said. “He ought to be ashamed of himself.'
Cuomo's campaign spokeswoman Dani Lever — before Molinaro's statement on the Sabbath — called his refusal “an absurd excuse.”
She said debate could air on WCBS stations across the state and can be re-aired numerous times or downloaded anytime.
“This situation vindicates what the governor has said all along, which is Mr. Molinaro only wants to ‘debate the debate,' ” Lever said. “The governor will take his campaign to the people directly.”
Former three-term GOP U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, who is now a long-time lobbyist, called it “ridiculous” that Molinaro, more than 20points down in the polls, would turn down a debate.
He said it hurt the momentum that Molinaro had on the issue as more media and editorial boards have been calling for a debate.
“You say you want a debate, you have a chance, as long as it's not some setup in front of a group that's hostile you, you do it,” D'Amato said. “He should have accepted it and said we should have others. We should go on TV. But you can't turn it down and say you didn't give me enough time. What are you talking about?”
It's not unprecedented for incumbents to turn down debates. Cuomo's father, the late three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo, refused to debate Republican challenger and ultimate victor George Pataki in 1994.