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Monday, October 18, 2010

Debate Or Bust


Tonight's gubernatorial debate promises to provide more in the way of laughs than any substantive discussion of the issues in New York; the five fringe party candidates are guaranteed equal time. I'm sure none of them will be a bust.

As far as I'm concerned, the less time Cuomo has to speak, the better. For one thing, as his margin in the polls expand in direct proportion to people learning about Paladino, it would seem that only a series of truly colossal gaffes could sink him now. But also, for guy with such a fine pedigree when it comes to public speaking, I don't find him impressive at all, particularly in situations such as a debate, when he doesn't have a teleprompter in front of him. I find him to be halting, repetitive, and generally unimpressive when he attempts to articulate his positions on demand. Of course, he's fine compared to Paladino, who would have nothing constructive to offer even if he was as elegant as the president.

The Cuomo campaign released this ad last week.



Well, of course, we all just hate these attack ads. However, this one is completely fair given Paladino's extreme position on abortion, which would ban a woman's right to choose even in the case of rape, incest, or, I suppose, bestiality, a Paladino favorite. What I particularly like about this ad is the line: "In Carl Paladino's New York, the government would make medical decisions, not doctors."

That of course turns Republicans' and Tea Partiers' arguments against the healthcare bill, and for that matter, government programs in general, right back against them. It also brings to mind what Jon Stewart told the House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (in an enlightening and civilized exchange that I highly recommend checking out): It's a "fallacy that limited government is the principled stand of conservatives. It's only limited to the shit they want to do." Like tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies, who can or cannot marry whom, who can wager on what online, and when we can invade sovereign countries for made-up reasons.

By the way, even the New York Post has eschewed Paladino, and endorsed Cuomo. That should surely tell you something.

5 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Strong classic field this year.

Richards Kid
Fly Down
ML
First Dude
Musket Man
Etched
Espoir City
Paddy o Prado (in the mud only)
Gio Ponti
Rip van winkle
Gitano Hernando
Blame (the overbet mule)
Quality Road (who most likely will scratch himself again after seeing Zenyatta)
Looking at Lucky
Zenyatta (who is gonna need every inch of that stretch to come close)

Anonymous said...

New York needs Cuomo. He will bankrupt the pathetic state faster. Same old lies from Alan the lefty - pubs want to tell people what to do with their bodies. Nothing but bullshit from Alan. Ask Michelle what she thinks people should eat - while she has a burger and fries. Alan's hair will be on fire in 2 weeks.

Anonymous said...

Stupid New Yorkers they need Sluts I mean Slots too survive.

steve in nc said...

Alan, thanks for putting it out there. And the hell with the idiot who seems to think that recommending healthy food to children is a moral outrage.

I haven't listened to Andrew since I'm way south now, but your assessment is disappointing. I've been at press conferences with Andrew's dad, and I didn't agree with him about everything, but the dude was brilliant and eloquent. I still wonder what they had on him that kept him from running for President.

Anonymous said...

Alan, you were right. Belle&Sebastian was great. The show was too short though. -jp