No Debate in New York State Cuomo, Gillibrand and the arrogance of one-party rule.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-debate-in-new-york-state-1540159576
Why be a journalist if you can’t have fun? Our friends at the New York Post have been doing exactly that while publicizing the refusal of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to debate their opponents in what is allegedly an election year. There’s also a lesson here about what happens in states with one-party government.
The Post has the two Democrats dressed in yellow chicken suits with the headline, “Birds of a Feather” and “We’re gonna need a bigger coop!” Both politicians are planning presidential runs, but they’re so far ahead in the polls that they don’t want to give their opponents a chance to highlight any of their career lowlights.
Republican nominee Marc Molinaro would no doubt want to mention the corruption that has effloresced on Mr. Cuomo’s watch, the lousy upstate economy, and the decline of New York City’s subways. GOP candidate Chele Farley might ask Ms. Gillibrand to defend her past admiration for Bill Clinton and Harvey Weinstein even as she says she believes charges without evidence against Brett Kavanaugh.
Ms. Gillibrand announced Friday she was ducking out of a debate with Ms. Farley scheduled for Sunday. The Senator claimed she didn’t want to cross a “de facto picket line” by workers striking against Charter Communications even as she said “open public debate is essential to democracy.” Is she getting credibility counsel from the Saudis? Late Sunday she finally agreed to a debate on Thursday at 1:30 in the afternoon.
The two Democrats can get away with this disdain for democracy because New York is increasingly a one-party state in which Republicans can’t win statewide. This is partly a result of a GOP majority in the state Senate that has failed to offer much of an alternative to liberal governance. But even that restraint in Albany is likely to vanish this year as Democrats expect to control every branch of government. Politicians aren’t more accountable when they face no significant opposition.
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