New York Debates  by Tom Reynolds

There were three recent debates regarding New York statewide races.  I thought they were supposed to consist of: Hernandez versus DiNapoli for State Comptroller; Komatireddy versus James for State Attorney General; and Blakeman versus Hochul for Governor.  But after watching the debates, I was wrong. 

Donald Trump is going to be a very busy man the next two years.  In addition to being President - according to Hochul - Trump must be her opponent for governor and - according to James - Trump must be her opponent for Attorney General.  Both Hochul and James could not stop referencing Trump in the debates.

Someone, less kind than I, might believe that these two incumbents do not want to run on their records, so they needed to tie their opponents into ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ (TDS) to build up enthusiasm amongst their allies.  In addition, I doubt if many would deny that Hochul and James were not blessed with an abundance of charisma, so their potential allies were not left screaming with enthusiasm after hearing them debate.  That would explain their frequent forays into ‘TDS’.

Part of the Attorney General debate focused on the prosecution of crime.  Several times, James referred to the need for compassion for the criminal but neglected to mention compassion for the victim of the crime.  James seems to put compassion ahead of the law.

Komatireddy also ripped into James over the amount of fraud taking place in New York.  James countered that her office has shifted its focus to bigger targets.  With billions in fraud, I’d believe James could assign some of her staff of hundreds of lawyers to going after all kinds of fraud.

In a debate lacking in humor, the high point came when Letitia James struggled to name a former NY Attorney General that she admired.  Komatireddy quipped that James “only admires herself.”

Actually, there was another laughable moment when James said, “Politics stops at the door in my office.”    

The Blakeman versus Hochul debate took an unusual early turn; I thought immigration was a federal responsibility, but Hochul’s sanctuary policies as well as her hatred of ICE have made it into a state issue.

I wrote, last week, about Hochul prejudging the Cornell rape case.  What I did not know, and Blakeman pointed out, was that Hochul is a trustee of Cornell University and did not act until it became a hot political issue.

Hochul answered an energy question by blaming Trump, the Iran war and stalled federal approvals. Blakeman turned that around saying: ‘…Donald Trump didn’t raise utility rates 48 times. You did. Donald Trump didn’t increase our utility bills by 50% since you became governor… You gave $150 back to people in a rebate in an election year… when you’ve raised the average bill $4,000 a year.'

By contrast, Donald Trump was not a major player in the NY Comptroller debate between Hernandez and DiNapoli.

The candidates differed on DiNapoli’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.  Hernandez characterized those considerations as political and argued that pension decisions should focus on financial returns.  DiNapoli seemed to agree that the DEI decisions were political as he did not defend them as investment strategies but rather as fighting what he perceives as discrimination.

Fraud was also an issue in this debate with DiNapoli being in office during the latest major fraud issues.

Hernandez pointed put $850,000 in campaign contributions from law firms representing the state pension fund, suggesting possible “pay‑to‑play” influence. DiNapoli denied any wrongdoing.

Hernandez made it clear that he opposes Gov. Kathy Hochul's data center moratorium.  "We can't just put a moratorium in place and basically just hit the brakes for a year…This technology's moving so fast, a year is a lifetime in this technology sector."

The person who gained the most from these debates was Saritha Komatireddy as Letitia James acted like she would rather be anywhere but there.  It is generally acknowledged that Saritha put on a knowledgeable and aggressive performance. 

The question is, how many people watched the debates?