American Chronicle
by Donald McKinley Allen
October 23, 2010

Like many New Yorkers, I was pessimistic, annoyed and a little embarrassed by the prospect of the New York State Candidate for Governor Debates. The phrase "low expectations" was a huge understatement. The idea of clogging up the stage with five fringe party candidates along with the two major party candidates seemed a waste of time at best or a major debacle or worse. Images of candidates with odd agenda screaming at each other filled one´s mind. But boy was I surprised!

Not that there weren´t unique candidates with unique agenda, there were several characters from the odd man/woman out realm. But there was no screaming, very little haranguing and just a few mild insults, mostly cast against the two major party candidates.

As for the two leading candidates; Andrew Cuomo, the Democrat, presented as the most professional and accomplished. He (mostly) answered the questions with positive, can do, reasonable, main stream political positions. And absolutely ignored all the cracks the other candidates made about him. Carl Paladino, the Republican, wisely also avoid defending himself against the criticisms tossed his way. He seemed somewhat tongue tied while trying to and mostly avoiding making any serious gaffs or of using his own style of "street speak" that has gotten him headlines in the past. He only went "Paladino" during the summation where he attempted to separate himself from the word "crazy" by repeatedly using the word, as in; "You tell me if I´m crazy…" The rest of the time Paladino seemed to follow the advice of his handlers and said the simple Tea Party, anti-tax stuff he has said before.

In general the two major party players gave a predictable, if not very inspiring, performance. It was the supporting cast that stole the show. The minor party standard bearers provided virtually all the entertainment and loads of fun. These folks, in some cases, seemed to be sent over Central Casting to help enliven the event and prevent what could have been a bit of a yawner. One by one they stepped into the spotlight and showed us their stuff. And some of the stuff was pretty darn funny.

Jimmy McMillan, as if his "Rent is 2 Damn High Party" wasn´t enough to start you grinning, looked like made up character with his elaborate facial hairdo and his black gloves. Add to this his down home preacher style of speaking in superlatives and hyperbole, and his repeated thumping of his party line; "The rent is too damn high"; he proved to be a real crowd pleaser. His plan for virtually everything, if he was elected Governor, was to declare an "economic emergency" and cut all rents in half and thus give everyone more money to spend.

Kristin Davis, former Madame, looked every inch the part and made sure to make several jokes about her past profession. She was campaigning on the "Anti-Prohibition Party" line and she was for the legalization of Marijuana, Gambling and probably other things that might be viewed as "vices". She claimed it would solve NYS´ fiscal problem by raising billions of dollars for the state, by one would assume, levying relatively high sin taxes on the previously prohibited activities.

Charles Barron, of the "Freedom Party" said his formula to right the ship of NYS was to pursue a very far left agenda of; higher taxes on the richest, more governmental assistance for the poorest. He purposely argued he wanted to represent the African-American and Latino voters and that Cuomo, the Democrat, would win anyway even without their vote.

Warren Redlich, on the "Libertarian Party" ticket brought public attention to the facts about thousands of NYS employees making six figure incomes, which probably was an eye opener and blood pressure elevator to many voters. He claimed the major candidates where too cozy with big contributors and he was the best man to eliminate all the heavy salaried government employees. He said; getting rid of the dead weight in government could lower taxes and still retain what he considered essential services.

Howie Hawkins of the "Green Party" looked and sounded the most like a legitimate major party candidate – if that party was a major Progressive party. He had knowledge of all the issues and realistic answers to all the questions. His positions on eliminating special interest money from public business by public finance of campaigns spoke to the heart of the corruption in NYS politics. His position on a fairer and more balanced progressive income tax system as well as reform in the funding of education from property tax was also well thought out and practical.

There was also some agreement between some of the candidates. Cuomo agreed with McMillan that "the rent is too damn high". And most of the minor party candidates with exception of Ms Davis seemed to agree that Paladino was, at least a little, crazy. The single issue would be Governors, like Ms. ´Increase Sin and Sin Tax´ and Mr. ´Lower the Rent is The Answer´ contributed the comic relief to some serious discussion. Mr. ´Can the Bureaucrats´ made his one point. Mr. ´Tax the Rich a Lot More´ also made his point. Mr. ´Green´ made several good points. Paladino didn´t say anything too outrageous or anything too clearly either. Cuomo said he was a great sheriff as Attorney General (true) and he would continue his crackdown on excess and thievery as Governor (we´ll see).

All in all it was a lot more entertaining than most people imagined going in. And perhaps the audience got a little better look see at who is who and what they are about. Now our obligation as citizens is to sort through it and figure out who and why, and then get out there, absolutely and no excuses; vote for somebody.