Pubdate: Sat, 12 Oct 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: James C. McKinley Jr.

PATAKI AGREES TO DEBATE, BUT ON A CROWDED STAGE

For the first time in his three campaigns for governor, George E. Pataki 
will debate his opponents tomorrow. But he has insisted on including all 
seven of the candidates actively running, ensuring a cluttered event in 
which challengers will have a hard time distinguishing themselves.

The debate was not put together without a hitch. On Thursday, Mr. Pataki 
threatened to pull out when the producers at WABC-TV said they wanted to 
seat him between his two leading opponents, H. Carl McCall and Tom Golisano.

The Pataki campaign said it would participate only if the candidates drew 
for seats, and the television producers ultimately agreed. Now the three 
main candidates will be sprinkled among the candidates for the Right to 
Life, Libertarian, Green and Marijuana Reform Parties.

"This is not a debate," said Steven Greenberg, a spokesman for the 
Democratic challenger, Mr. McCall. "This is a town hall discussion. George 
Pataki is clearly afraid of debating Carl McCall in a serious fashion."

Michael McKeon, a spokesman for the Republican governor, said the Pataki 
campaign had not tried to manipulate the format to make it harder for the 
Democrat and Mr. Golisano, 60, a conservative billionaire running on the 
Independence Party line, to gain attention.

"We thought a random drawing for position as well as the closing statements 
was the most fair thing to do," he said.

A crowded forum benefits the incumbent in several ways. For starters, 
voters disposed to vote against the incumbent governor may be attracted to 
one of the minor-party candidates rather than to the Democratic challenger 
or a strong third-party candidate like Mr. Golisano. In addition, the more 
candidates there are, the less time each has to speak, making sharp 
exchanges over Mr. Pataki's record less likely.

For Mr. McCall, 66, a one-on-one format would have sent a message to voters 
that the race was a clear-cut choice between the two major-party 
candidates. Even having Mr. Golisano in the mix would have been better for 
the Democrat than a stage full of candidates known to few voters, political 
strategists said.

"It diminishes McCall's stature at the same time it elevates Pataki by 
reminding voters and viewers that he's the only governor on the platform," 
said Richard Schrader, a Democratic consultant not involved in the race. 
"The noise level will drown out McCall's message." Mr. Pataki, 57, has 
switched his position on debates since 1994, when he ran against Gov. Mario 
M. Cuomo. Mr. Cuomo refused to debate unless the minor-party candidates 
were included. At the time, Mr. Pataki rejected the terms, saying that 
Governor Cuomo just wanted the other candidates included to deflect 
attention from his record and that opening the debates to all candidates 
would confuse voters.

The 90-minute debate tomorrow is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Channel 7. The 
candidates will be seated, with Mr. McCall on the far left and Mr. Golisano 
on the far right. Mr. Pataki will be third from the left, with the Right to 
Life candidate, Gerard J. Cronin, between him and Mr. McCall. The three 
other small-party candidates will separate the governor from Mr. Golisano. 
Each candidate will be given a minute to answer each question from a panel 
of four journalists and a minute to sum up.

For the minor-party candidates, the debate is a chance to inform voters 
directly about their platforms, even if in a hurried way.

"It's overdue," said the Green Party candidate, Stanley Aronowitz, 69, a 
sociology professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New 
York. "The fact of the matter is we should have been covered with the major 
parties all along."

Mr. Aronowitz favors closing all nuclear reactors in the state, raising the 
minimum wage, repealing the death penalty and getting rid of the state's 
long mandatory drug sentences. He also wants to raise taxes for the rich to 
pay for free tuition at state colleges and for state-financed health 
insurance. "When you don't talk about taxes, what you say is hollow," he said.

The Libertarian candidate is Scott Jeffrey, 34, a software developer from 
Park Slope, Brooklyn. He has run on legalizing marijuana and easing 
government regulations over guns and drinking.

Mr. Cronin, 40, the Right to Life candidate, is a teacher who writes for 
The Tablet, the weekly Catholic newspaper for the Diocese of Brooklyn. He 
is running on the single issue of outlawing abortion.

Thomas K. Leighton, 51, a photographer who is the candidate for the 
Marijuana Reform Party, is running on a three-part platform: legalizing 
marijuana for medical use, revamping the drug laws so that drug use is 
handled as a medical problem, and allowing farmers to grow hemp for 
industrial purposes.

"If people simply know we are on the ballot, they will come out and vote 
for us," Mr. Leighton said.
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