Cuomo, Paladino each find limited success in debate

On a night when Andrew Cuomo needed to avoid a gaffe and Carl Paladino had to change the subject, both men succeeded, but probably changed few minds, observers said Monday night.

While Paladino often seemed uncomfortable and unable at times to speak concisely, his performance may have helped him shed his image as a negative campaigner, the observors said. After weeks of attacking Cuomo on alleged marital infidelities and his parenting skills, the Republican didn't mention his Democratic opponent once.

Meanwhile, Cuomo adhered strictly to talking points about making government more efficient and effective and his record as attorney general. And he didn't mention Paladino.

"Cuomo didn't make a mistake," said Lawrence Levy, director of the National Center of Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, where the debate took place Monday night. "And Paladino had to have a magical night where he moved millions of people, and he didn't do that. But he probably got his base back."

In a seven-candidate debate, the minor party candidates stole some of the thunder from Paladino and Cuomo. Asked who won, Paladino campaign manager Michael Caputo said the Rent Is 2 Damn High candidate Jimmy McMillan, who got the most applause and laughs of the night.

Cuomo's only applause came when he agreed with McMillan: "Jimmy you're right, the rent is too damn high!"

Paladino had the enviable position of getting the first and last word, but he started slowly, confusing Medicaid with Medicare at one point (he corrected himself), mispronouncing "pay-to-play" and had trouble squeezing his message into 30- to 90-second answers. At one point, he left the stage to use the rest-room, his staff said.

Toward the end of the debate, Paladino picked up steam, getting applause when he called urban school systems "dysfunctional." But State GOP chairman Ed Cox said Paladino seemed "uncomfortable." "It's because he's not a person who has been in the political arena that long," Cox said.

Meanwhile, Cuomo - whom the Paladino campaign had dubbed a "champion debater" - seemed relaxed.

"Andrew Cuomo was the person who was most on point," said his running mate, Robert Duffy, the mayor of Rochester. "He was clear, concise."

Joe Darrow, 28, of Stony Brook, a first-year Hofstra law student who was in the audience watching the debate, said later that he gave the edge to Cuomo. "You can certainly see he's been a career politician for some time," Darrow said. "Paladino certainly was more earnest."