Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Mario, Newt & Tim
The Cooper Union discussion featuring former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and former U.S. Speaker Newt Gingrich, moderated by Tim Russert, can be seen by live webcast at 6:30 this evening.
I'll be in Cooper Union watching the proceedings live.
UPDATE: A mostly entertaining evening. Gingrich and Cuomo want to use the debate format to spark the official presidential candidates into having more debates, not fewer. In particular, Gingrich would like to see the eventual party nominees agree to nine weekly debates, ninety minutes each to get the electorate fully engaged in the complex issues facing the country.
Not trying to be biased (though, as nearly every regular reader of this blog is fully aware, Gingrich is a former boss of mine), but I was very disappointed with Gov. Cuomo's contribution.
I charted my contrasting reactions to the two men's performances:
NG ----------------------------------------------------- MC
"non-partisan" ---------------------------------------- "partisan"
"2007-" ------------------------------------------------- "1993"
"engaging" ------------------------------------------ "accusatory"
"positive" ------------------------------------------ "negative"
"coherent" ------------------------------------------ "incoherent"
"funny" ------------------------------------------- "bitter"
The last adjective for Cuomo was supplied by a veteran New York journalist who has known the governor for nearly 30 years ago. Though not always agreeing with him politically, he respects Cuomo and is friendly with him. He was aghast.
I will admit that Cuomo seemed to get his groove back during the Q&A portion of the program with Tim Russert. He was much more gracious and truly talked up -- rather genuinely, in my opinion -- the idea of Newt being one of the better individuals Republicans could put up for president. And, while a pro-Iraq war person could disagree with his stance, Cuomo at least tried to put forward an honest analysis of some positive steps being made to getting Iraq's economics (sharing the oil wealth between Shiite, Sunni and Kurd) under control, which he saw as vital for any long-term solution.
In any event, if you have the time, watch the webcast, because it's difficult to simply summarize all comments expressed. And, in keeping with the spirit of the Lincoln address at Cooper Union after which this event was modeled, watch everything in its entirety. Don't let a simple summary or soundbite interpret the whole thing for you.
|
I'll be in Cooper Union watching the proceedings live.
UPDATE: A mostly entertaining evening. Gingrich and Cuomo want to use the debate format to spark the official presidential candidates into having more debates, not fewer. In particular, Gingrich would like to see the eventual party nominees agree to nine weekly debates, ninety minutes each to get the electorate fully engaged in the complex issues facing the country.
Not trying to be biased (though, as nearly every regular reader of this blog is fully aware, Gingrich is a former boss of mine), but I was very disappointed with Gov. Cuomo's contribution.
I charted my contrasting reactions to the two men's performances:
NG ----------------------------------------------------- MC
"non-partisan" ---------------------------------------- "partisan"
"2007-" ------------------------------------------------- "1993"
"engaging" ------------------------------------------ "accusatory"
"positive" ------------------------------------------ "negative"
"coherent" ------------------------------------------ "incoherent"
"funny" ------------------------------------------- "bitter"
The last adjective for Cuomo was supplied by a veteran New York journalist who has known the governor for nearly 30 years ago. Though not always agreeing with him politically, he respects Cuomo and is friendly with him. He was aghast.
I will admit that Cuomo seemed to get his groove back during the Q&A portion of the program with Tim Russert. He was much more gracious and truly talked up -- rather genuinely, in my opinion -- the idea of Newt being one of the better individuals Republicans could put up for president. And, while a pro-Iraq war person could disagree with his stance, Cuomo at least tried to put forward an honest analysis of some positive steps being made to getting Iraq's economics (sharing the oil wealth between Shiite, Sunni and Kurd) under control, which he saw as vital for any long-term solution.
In any event, if you have the time, watch the webcast, because it's difficult to simply summarize all comments expressed. And, in keeping with the spirit of the Lincoln address at Cooper Union after which this event was modeled, watch everything in its entirety. Don't let a simple summary or soundbite interpret the whole thing for you.
Labels: Cooper Union, Mario Cuomo, Newt Gingrich, Tim Russert
