Posted on 10/13/2006 1:34:16 PM PDT by neverdem
GOP hopeful needed hit to close gap
Republican John Faso opened fire last night on front-runner Eliot Spitzer in the last gubernatorial debate, trying to paint Spitzer as a "timid" leader who lets crooked political pals off the hook and was "asleep at the switch" on Medicaid fraud.
Spitzer, who earned the nickname "Sheriff of Wall Street" by taking on financial companies as two-term state attorney general, rebuffed the attacks.
"Despite all the angry extreme rhetoric from my opponent, the public knows who has stood up for the public for eight years," said Spitzer, who led Faso, a lawyer and former state Assembly minority leader, by more than 50 points in a recent poll.
Faso hammered away at Spitzer's ties to fellow Democrat Alan Hevesi, the state controller, who has admitted having a state worker chauffeur his disabled wife around.
Spitzer has said Hevesi erred but also has defended him as an "honest" and capable public servant. Faso, who lost the controller's race to Hevesi in 2002, calls Hevesi a "thief" who should quit. There were echoes of the rivals' first debate at Cornell University last month.
Faso warned that Spitzer's spending plans would bury New Yorkers under a tax landslide. Spitzer framed Faso as having views out of step with even members of his own party.
There was no shortage of elbows thrown. Spitzer scoffed that Faso "loves to defend corporate corruption." Faso sniped that Spitzer prosecuted fraud hoping to "get some press releases out of it." But with just weeks to go before Election Day, "John Faso needs five grand-slam home runs, and he certainly did not get that tonight," said Siena Poll spokesman Steven Greenberg. "Maybe he hit a single."
The candidates agreed on one thing: It's taken too long to build at Ground Zero.
Spitzer blamed incompetent Albany leaders for engaging in "the dance where they issue more press releases than bricks that are put down."
"We are going to build there. We are going to do it quickly, with accountability, and we are going to do it with money that we have," he said.
Faso cited fights over insurance claims as part of the holdup: "If I am elected the governor, I will make sure that those plans and projects proceed expeditiously," he said. The debates have been a chance for Faso to reach voters in a contest in which he has scrambled for funding and name recognition.
Earlier this month, Spitzer, who enjoys a national reputation, reported $8.6 million in cash on hand. Faso reported having less than $1 million in his war chest.
Spitzer also has already churned out more than a dozen TV commercials this campaign cycle, compared with Faso's solitary ad.
Regards, Ivan
Faso needed to run one ad, and one ad only, constantly:
"not a single investor received a dime from Eliot Spitzer's wall street fraud settlements".
that single issue created Spitzer, and unless his aura on that specific issue were torn down - there is no way to beat him.
I knew it 3 years ago.
Pataki was successfully able to delay this 5 billion dollar court ruling that says NYS must pay NYC for education. Spitzer won't be able to duck it, it will be interesting to see which taxes he raises to cover it, and how he explains it to the rest of the state.
Sounds good to me.
As I understand it, most of the time he didn't even have a case that would stand up to a jury -- he just intimidated people over things that he didn't like (usually not clearly illegal). I think a couple of people fought back and were acquitted. Unfortunately, most just knuckled under to the blackmail.
its amazing that these guys put together political teams, and they cannot come up with a single cohesive idea on which to run a campaign. not that Faso had a great chance anyway, but Spitzer rose to prominence on this one issue - so that's obviously the one you have to attack him on to bring him down.
That sounds as unlikely to fly as Schumer as a national candidate. They're both uber liberals.
correct.
look, don't get me wrong - there was a tremendous amount of corruption on wall street in the late 90s. I lost money, did Spitzer get me a dime back? no. he got nothing back for anyone.
I sincerely hope you're right.
Spitzer accused someone of "angry extreme rhetoric"?
PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF!!!
I watched the Faso vs Spitzer debate, and it was a slaughter.
Faso beat him like a circus monkey, and never once went over his time, as opposed to Spitz, who was visably flustered and was reprimanded for going over time nearly every time!
It reminded me of when Thune destroyed Daschle on Meet The Press.
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