The New York Times take New York's Governor to task in
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ‘Disservice to Democracy’ after the Governor used the same phrase to to diss debates and excuse himself from debating Democratic primary rival Zephyr Teachout.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, who has a huge war chest, is presumed to be far ahead in Tuesday’s Democratic primary race. That assumption, however, should not allow him to shrink from a debate with Zephyr Teachout, his gutsy opponent. Ms. Teachout, a Fordham University law professor, has already appeared alone on NY1 on Tuesday after Mr. Cuomo refused to participate in a debate. At Democratic clubs and other forums, the governor has avoided taking on his opponents, and, on Thursday, Ms. Teachout debated Rob Astorino, the Republican nominee, on WNYC — also minus the governor.
By not appearing with his challengers, Mr. Cuomo deprives voters of a vigorous discussion of state issues. When he was asked recently about whether refusing to debate shows disrespect for democracy, he scoffed at the idea. “I don’t think it has anything to do with democracy,” he said on Tuesday. In fact, he added, “I’ve been in many debates that I think were a disservice to democracy.”
It’s hard to see how he could make such a ludicrous argument. Debates give voters more information than they can get from TV ads by forcing candidates to defend their records and respond on issues crucial to voters. And, of course, a debate allows the public to see how a candidate handles political opponents, which can be revealing.
The NYT reminds us that when Cuomo was running as the governor in the Democratic primary he declared “This is what a campaign should be all about — a good, honest discussion on the issues.”
Governor Cuomo demonstrates he has few values or basic principles he is not willing to defenestrate for political expediency.
I wish I were a New York voter who could vote against him in the primary because political opportunists like Andrew Cuomo give Democrats a bad image. I cringe every time hear his name suggested as a potential future Democratic presidential candidate. We can certainly do better than this.
Hey New York Democrats - here is an opportunity to send big presumptuous establishment poles a message. Please go out and vote in this primary.