“Are You Or Have You Ever Been A Corporation?”
A Recap of the New York 2018 Gubernatorial Primary Debate
CUOMO: “Are you a corporation?”
NIXON: “I am a person!”
So went perhaps the strangest exchange in Cynthia Nixon and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s one and only debate, held last night in a Hofstra University gymnasium on Long Island (how New York is that?). It was largely considered a draw, with both candidates energetically shouting at one another while avoiding eye contact (again, how New York is that?).
After a shaky start (there were no opening statements, one of many shrewd Cuomo camp demands) Nixon appeared calm, cool, and in charge of the facts on a myriad of issues. Cuomo avoided any major gaffes but did let Nixon get under his skin a few times–– most notably when he blew his chance to attack her receiving special favors from the mayor by trying to tie it to her taxes, which she files as a corporation (like an untold number of other freelancers, artists, and actors). It was a confounding leap of logic made all the stranger by Cuomo’s badgering insistence that Nixon answer his nonsensical question.
As expected, Nixon called out Cuomo for misleading New Yorkers about his role in the current subway crisis by brandishing her favorite slogan: “He used the MTA as his ATM.” It’s a solid line for city voters (and, she hopes, LIRR commuters) and it led to the night’s biggest sound bite: Cuomo’s “Can you stop interrupting me?” rebutted with Nixon’s “Can you stop lying?”
The rest of the night’s attacks were pretty predictable — and a decent pitch for a new CBS comedy (“She’s inexperienced! He’s corrupt! Thursdays this fall!”) — but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few substantive surprises:
- Cuomo promised not to run for President in 2020 (thank god).
- Nixon promised not to take the Governor’s salary if elected (well, “maybe a dollar”).
- Cuomo revealed that he is verrrry touchy about naming the new Tappan Zee Bridge after his father (and equally vague about what the toll will cost after 2020).
- Nixon insisted that she is, in fact, a human being. (See above.)
- Both candidates came out against next year’s scheduled MTA fare hike, but naturally Cuomo refused to pay for it. (Translation: Expect a fare hike next year.)
- Nobody wanted to be endorsed by Bill de Blasio. Sad!
But I would argue that the night’s best exchange came when Cynthia Nixon made a passionate and articulate pitch for statewide single-payer healthcare. It’s one of the biggest issues that divides the two candidates — Cuomo’s stance is that only the federal government can get such a big change done, but I say he’s just passing the buck.
Obamacare came to life thanks in large part to the success of Romneycare in Massachusetts. States have always been the incubators of new ideas — wouldn’t it be nice to have a state leader who felt the same way?
DEBATE RECAPS: Gothamist, NY Mag/The Cut, NY Times, NY Times (again), Vanity Fair
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