HTTP/1.0 200 OK Content-Type: text/html You Call That A Debate?
Pubdate: Tue, 15 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
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1916/a02.html

YOU CALL THAT A DEBATE?

Sunday's "debate" among seven candidates for governor of New York State was 
a light political merry-go-round, a 90-minute whirl in which each candidate 
had no more than a dozen minutes to address issues great and incredibly 
minor. George Pataki, the incumbent, had insisted that all third-party 
candidates be included. The governor should get points for politeness, but 
it was obvious that his real goal was to drain the event of any import.

Mr. Pataki, a Republican, now says he was wrong eight years ago, when he 
ran against Mario Cuomo, to have insisted on one-on-one debates while Mr. 
Cuomo was the one who wanted to get lost in a crowd. The present governor 
certainly seemed satisfied with the muddled production Sunday, sitting 
calmly while the Marijuana Reform candidate suggested that legalized pot 
would raise state revenues, the Libertarian candidate argued that he was a 
pot-smoker who didn't want to pay any more taxes on anything and the Right 
to Life candidate waved at his students.

Meanwhile, former Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, is doing much the 
same debate tango in New Jersey with his G.O.P. opponent, Douglas 
Forrester, in the race for the open United States Senate seat. Mr. 
Lautenberg, who like Mr. Pataki is ahead in the polls, has also argued for 
safety in numbers. He keeps insisting on including all the third-party 
candidates in any debate, and has dropped the debates scheduled by Senator 
Robert Torricelli, the original Democratic candidate, who dropped out. Mr. 
Pataki and Mr. Lautenberg should get real, and do the voters the courtesy 
of allowing at least one meaningful face-off between the two major party 
candidates.
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