Schumer, Foes Will Debate on Sunday

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

ALBANY – The candidates running against Senator Schumer will get the chance to confront him on live television Sunday morning in the first of two scheduled debates.


The Republican challenger, Howard Mills, will try to use the hour-long broadcast to portray Mr. Schumer as ineffective, while the Conservative Party candidate, Marilyn O’Grady, will argue that both Messrs. Schumer and Mills are too liberal. Mr. Schumer, a well-known Democrat who holds a commanding lead in the polls, is expected to stay above the fray by defending his record of the past six years without counterattacking his opponents.


The forum is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday on WABC-TV, Channel 7,in New York City. Cornell University and the League of Women Voters are organizing a second session Tuesday night at Ithaca, which is to be carried on Time Warner cable systems throughout the state.


The debates are unlikely to determine the winner of the campaign but could influence who comes in second.


The most recent opinion poll by Quinnipiac University, taken last month, showed Mr. Schumer with the support of 61% of registered voters interviewed, compared to 13% for Mr. Mills, an assemblyman from Orange County, and 9% for Dr. O’Grady, an ophthalmologist from Garden City, Long Island.


Mr. Mills, who is short of money to pay for advertising, is counting on the debates to raise his profile with voters. Unfortunately for him, the three-way format gives the same exposure to Dr. O’Grady, who aims to lure away some of his Republican support.


“I would think you would have people trying to snipe at Schumer, and Schumer will be ignoring them and talking about himself,” a Democratic political consultant, Joseph Mercurio of National Political Services, said.


“It will get very little press coverage,” another Democratic consultant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “As long as Senator Schumer doesn’t say anything unfortunate, it’s a nonevent….Really it’s a debate for second place. There’s no confusion as to who the winner of this race is going to be.”


A spokeswoman for the Mills campaign, Caroline Quartararo, said the assemblyman will use the debate to tout his campaign proposals – cutting taxes on the middle class, encouraging the development of alternative energy technologies, and limiting personal-injury lawsuits – while critiquing Mr. Schumer’s record.


“We are certainly going to make the case that Senator Schumer is an ineffective senator for New York,” Ms. Quartararo said. “Wyoming got more money per capita for homeland security than New York did. … Where was Schumer to fight for us?”


As Mr. Mills tries to distinguish himself from Mr. Schumer, Dr. O’Grady will emphasize their similarities, according to her campaign manager, Howard Lim. Dr. O’Grady will point out that both of the other candidates support legalized abortions and civil unions for same-sex couples, which she opposes.


“Dr. O’Grady is the candidate that really offers an alternative to those voters who don’t subscribe to liberal social policies and economic policies in New York,” Mr. Lim said.


“That’s such a ridiculous claim,” Ms. Quartararo said, calling Dr. O’Grady a “one-issue extremist” primarily concerned about abortion.


“We are going to talk about cutting taxes, a strong stand against terrorism, our support of the president’s policies in Iraq, and getting government off the backs of the people of New York and America,” the Republican’s spokeswoman said.


A spokesman for Mr. Schumer, Stu Loeser, declined to discuss his debate strategy in detail, other than to say: “Chuck’s going to talk about his record and ask the people of New York for their vote.”


Sunday’s debate is to be moderated by a WABC anchor, Bill Ritter, who is to direct an equal number of questions to each candidate. The first candidate gets 90 seconds to answer, followed by 60-second responses from the two others and, at Mr. Ritter’s discretion, a 30-second follow-up from first.


In addition to his lead in the polls, Mr. Schumer has raised far more money than either of his opponents. According to the most recent filings, at the end of August, the incumbent had raised almost $25 million, compared to $531,000 for Mr. Mills and $47,000 for Dr. O’Grady.


Not participating in the televised debates is businessman Abraham Hirschfeld, running on the “Builders Party” line, who had $702,000 in his campaign account.


The New York Sun

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