The second Chris Gibson-Julian Schreibman debate took place last night at the WMHT studios in North Greenbush. Once again, Schreibman clearly won on points, both for style and substance.
Not that much changed from the initial debate in Kingston last week. Gibson continued to try to disguise his voting record in Congress and portray himself as a moderate. Schreibman continued to thwart that attempt and underscore Gibson’s right-wing voting record on major issues, particularly the Paul Ryan budget that would transform Medicare into a “premium support” (i.e., voucher) program.
As he did in the first debate, Gibson ticked off the four items he sees as his major accomplishments: “storm relief, broadband, Lyme disease and small business”. This is an eclectic and somewhat ludicrous list. It is also misleading, insofar as Gibson claims to have resolved any of these issues. The aftermath of Irene still lingers in many areas, rural broadband accessibility remains a sick joke, Lyme disease continues to be rampant throughout the 19th Congressional District and upstate New York in general , and upstate business is hurting as badly as it ever has.
The difference in this debate, to the extent there was one, was in Gibson’s demeanor. He didn’t become as flustered or excited as he was in the first debate, and he attempted more attacks on his opponent, largely in the form of asking “OK, then, what’s your plan?” But most of Gibson’s energy continued to be spent dodging his own record, and I think he was unsuccessful in this.
Schreibman has the stronger presence and does a far better job of speaking directly to the audience. This is likely due to the fact that, unlike Gibson, he’s not trying to hide anything. Gibson tried another distraction at the end by closing with an especially sleazy and divisive line, asking “who do you trust? A combat veteran or a New York City lawyer?”
Well, I’ll tell you, Chris: I trust Julian Schreibman a hell of a lot more than I trust you.
You can watch a stream of last night’s debate on the New York NOW website. The third and final debate in the series will take place at 7 PM on Wednesday, October 24 in Craven Lounge in the Morris Hall building at SUNY Oneonta.
To my friends in the Democratic Party in Greene County: my name is Bruce Tuchman and I am the former Democratic Party Chairman of the Town of Saugerties in Ulster County. Although I am now an independent (for reasons that go beyond this race) and despite this change in affiliation, I still hold strong to many of my Democratic principles.
It is from this stance that I ask your support, or at a minimum, respect, for Congressman Chris Gibson. The race for the new 19th Congressional District has turned incredibly dirty, and outright dishonest over the past few months. As Congressman Gibson’s opponent Julian Schreibman faces another losing election, the outright lies must not go unaddressed,
Chris Gibson is an extraordinary man of character and integrity. He fought for Greene County and Upstate New York when we were crushed by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. He fought his own party and leadership to get funding reinstated into the federal broadband loan program and he succeeded with support from House Democrats. He has voted for tax proposals to increase revenue, as well as to decrease spending. He stood with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to ensure our returning veterans have the best opportunities for jobs and a transition to normal lives.
As strongly as I believe in Chris, and ask for your support, .you have the ultimate responsibility to vote your conscience. But I do know that casting aspersions against a 24 yr veteran, (ret. Colonel); a Ph.D. in history from Cornell University, a commander of the 82nd Airborne’s mission in earthquake ravished Haiti, and a loving family man to his wife, children and mother, is desperate and scurrilous. Chris Gibson is a moderate, sensitive man. His proven ability to bring people together is a quality needed in Washington. Congressman Chris Gibson will bring the newly redistricted 19th C,D. the same respected representation he did to his former constituents. We deserve his skills and I believe you will agree when we return him to represent us.
Check him out. http://www.chrisgibsonforcongress.com/
The above comment seems heartfelt, and so it was approved. But it is seriously mistaken on several key points.
To begin with, the “dirty” campaign of which Mr. Tuchman speaks. Chris Gibson is outspending Julian Schreibman by a wide margin, and he is doing so with outside PAC money. The resultant ads have repeatedly hit below the belt, so much so that one of them had to be pulled for its false assertions. At a minimum, Gibson is every bit as rough as Schreibman is when it comes to campaign advertising. In my opinion (and that of outside fact checkers), he is noticeably worse.
Gibson has been responsive to victims of Tropical Storm Irene, and he has certainly been present for many stories and photo ops in storm-ravaged areas. The fact remains that any representative should, and likely would, do as much. It’s quite conceivable that another man or woman in Gibson’s office might have been able to achieve more for said victims than has been achieved so far.
Broadband funding in upstate New York is a joke, as I’ve stated before. Gibson managed to insert a small amount of money in an unrelated bill, after helping to kill the serious broadband effort that would have been mounted with federal stimulus money. (Mid-Hudson Cable alone declined over three million dollars’ worth of stimulus money, the better to gouge its customers to the tune of thousands of dollars each for extending cable service a few houses up the road.) Gibson has held sham symposiums in which the proposed solution is to “negotiate” with MH Cable when town contracts come up for renewal, every 10 years or so. For Gibson to claim that he has made progress in improving upstate broadband is simply fraudulent.
Gibson’s most important votes have been cast with the far right—notably, the Paul Ryan budget plan. He is now struggling mightily to present himself as a moderate in his new district, and he does occasionally cross party lines—when he feels it’s safe to do so. But his record of support for the middle class, for women’s rights, and for economic development, including broadband, in upstate NY is very poor.
Yes, Mr. Gibson is well known as a “nice guy”—it’s part of his stock-in-trade, so let’s give him that. And let’s give him the respect that Mr. Tuchman requests, for his role as an elected public representative.
But let’s NOT give him our votes. Chris Gibson is part of the problem regarding upstate NY’s declining fortunes, not part of the solution. Julian Schreibman is a superior candidate across the board. Check HIM out, at http://julianforny.com.