I hope you’re sitting down when I tell you that Governor Cuomo is agreeing to debate Cynthia Nixon.
Snubbing invitations from NY1 and WABC-TV, Governor Cuomo yesterday signed off to debate Cynthia Nixon at an event sponsored by WCBS-TV at Hofstra University. The odd catch? The Democratic rivals will be sitting down on stage instead of standing at a podium.
Either Channel 2 doesn’t have a budget for podiums or perhaps one candidate is putting his (or her) finger on the scale. And it might be worth noting that a certain governor in Albany seems to have a penchant for holding press events where he’s sitting at a long table.
Regardless of the stagecraft, it’s remarkable that Cuomo is agreeing to his first head-to-head debate in more than a decade. Let’s hope that the seating arrangement is the only thing that’s been pre-arranged at the forum.
NY1, meanwhile, had found money for podiums and is excited to host a Democratic debate for State Attorney General on August 28th at John Jay College at 7 p.m. And we’re making some tickets available to the public! Just go to our website (NY1.com) and follow the link. If you don’t want to attend the debate in person at the Gerald Lynch Theater, we’ll be bringing the whole 90-minute event to you live on NY1 – along with a 30-minute wrap-up afterwards.
And if Cuomo and Nixon want to come and watch, we’ll save a seat for each of them.
Bob Hardt