Rare Moments of Fire Flash Across the Gray Scape of the Democratic Debate
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During last night’s mayoral debate, the Democratic front-runner, Fernando Ferrer, downplayed skepticism about his commitment to this year’s race, saying he had enough fire in his belly to “melt concrete.” It was the second consecutive day the candidate had made the pledge.
All four candidates, in their last confrontation before Democrats vote in Tuesday’s primary, appeared, in their pursuit of City Hall, to have about enough combined “fire” to melt an ice cube.
In the televised debate, held at WABC studios near Lincoln Center, the four participants – a Brooklyn-Queens congressman, Anthony Weiner; the Manhattan borough president, C. Virginia Fields; the speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, and Mr. Ferrer, a former Bronx borough president – rarely engaged in dialogue. As they addressed familiar topics, including “affordable housing,” education, transportation, security, race relations, and city parks, the candidates appeared to be issuing policy statements past one another, using the free airtime as an opportunity to toss sound bites at voters rather than discredit their opponents.
Mr. Weiner, for example, as he had in the previous night’s WNBC-TV debate and as he does in campaign commercials, invoked his mother’s 31 years’ teaching in the public schools, and spoke of his “mentor, Chuck Schumer.” And Mr. Miller, as he does whenever he can, portrayed himself as the city’s heroic shield against Mayor Bloomberg’s harshest initiatives.
It was largely up to the debate’s moderators to challenge the candidates. A WABC political reporter, Dave Evans, pressed Ms. Fields for specificity in her priorities for education. She resisted his blandishments.
And a columnist for the Daily News, Errol Louis, called Mr. Weiner out for his apparent flip-flops on cutting taxes and waste, which the congressman has made the centerpiece of his campaign. Mr. Louis pointed out that Mr. Weiner has received low marks among anti-tax organizations for his affinity for federal levies, citing a City Journal article in which Mr. Weiner is quoted as having said residents of his district don’t want tax cuts and the era of small government is over. Mr. Louis asked Mr. Weiner, also a former member of the City Council, whether he could “name some areas where you’ve actually cut government waste.” Mr. Weiner responded by saying his statements referred to the need for a bigger government to handle security in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11. He then outlined his proposals for eliminating government waste in the future but was unable, despite a repeated request from Mr. Louis, to cite one example of his having eliminated pork during his career as a public servant.
In a rare moment of dispute between the candidates, Messrs. Miller and Weiner – who, according to most public-opinion polls, are battling for a chance to contest Mr. Ferrer in a runoff election – played a game of one-upmanship on which candidate had been first and most enthusiastic in eliminating restrictions on access to food stamps and other welfare benefits.
The exchange came in response to Mr. Weiner’s promise that, as mayor, his first act would be the abolition of fingerprinting requirements for food stamp recipients. The restrictions are a requirement of the state, not the city.
Mr. Miller, in response to the same question, replied that his first action would be to renege on a sunset clause in an income-tax hike on New Yorkers earning over $500,000 a year. That would require the approval of the state Legislature – in an election year for the solons of Albany.
Ms. Fields said she would kick off her mayoralty by appointing a deputy mayor for “full employment,” and Mr. Ferrer said he would appoint “an educator” as schools chancellor.
The debate was not without moments of levity. In response to a question about Mr. Ferrer’s commitment to the mayoral race, Mr. Weiner pounced on Mr. Bloomberg and his vacationing habits. The congressman said, of Mr. Ferrer: “I can tell you he doesn’t fly off to Bermuda to take time off. He does it in South Queens and Rockaway and the Bronx,” apparently forgetting Mr. Ferrer’s highly publicized trips this summer to Puerto Rico and Los Angeles.
The Bloomberg campaign responded to Mr. Weiner’s swipe later in the evening, in an e-mail to reporters in which a campaign spokesman, Stuart Loeser, faulted Mr. Weiner for traveling to Antarctica “on taxpayer dime.” Mr. Loeser was referring to the congressman’s 2003 trip to the South Pole as part of his work on the House Science Committee. The Bloomberg camp also lambasted the congressman for an $8,000 trip made to Hyderabad, India, this year, which the mayor’s people said was sponsored and financed by a “pro-outsourcing” organization.
Other disclosures at the debate: All four candidates said they give money to panhandlers, and all four said they ride the subway often.