GOP debate needs a shot in the arm

Daily Point

Anti-vaxx warmup act for GOP debate

Debates about the rules and conditions of upcoming debates are typical among candidates and moderators. The one that played out over the weekend involving first-time candidate Andrew Giuliani, however, was unique for how it drifted into anti-vaccine solidarity, a topic still on the agenda of Republican vote-seekers.

The four-way debate begins Monday at 7 p.m. on WCBS. On Sunday, the once-estranged son of former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani did a sidewalk sideshow in which he complained that the hosts were keeping him from debating in the studio because he refuses to be vaccinated against the virus. But CBS quickly made a special arrangement for him, to participate by video hookup while front-runner Rep. Lee Zeldin and rival candidates Rob Astorino and Harry Wilson are expected in person.

As one consultant put it, Andrew Giuliani “will likely get some martyr points.”

But he could get something else as well. By appearing in the debate from another location, the crossfire with rival candidates might come out differently for the 36-year-old golf aficionado whose only involvement in government came from a patronage job with former President Donald Trump.

Some believed he could benefit from being advised on the spot outside the public’s view. But rival campaigns were assured WCBS will have its own personnel on hand to check any potential for outside help.

Giuliani’s maiden debate performance happens to come the same day that a congressional hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection featured videos of Rudy Giuliani angrily spewing bizarre and false claims about irregularities in the 2020 election on behalf of Trump.

“Rudy’s crazy stuff wouldn’t help Andrew even if he did sit next to him during the debate,” said a longtime Democratic operative.

Perhaps Andrew Giuliani, however, will benefit from avoiding the usual reporters’ questions following a debate — where he’d likely also face queries about his father’s dubious actions.

Both Zeldin and Astorino tried to stop Giuliani from herding the anti-vax vote by playing to sentiments that anti-COVID-19 health measures unduly restrict individual freedom.

Zeldin tweeted: “Tomorrow’s CBS GOP primary debate needs ALL four people ON STAGE. A COVID vax mandate shouldn’t exist. That aside, no good reason the COVID vax mandate should prevent anyone from being on stage IN PERSON. The only way to do this right is for all four of us to be on stage together.”

Astorino said: “That we’re still doing discriminatory and unscientific vaccine mandates when we’ve long known vax doesn’t prevent infection/transmission is PC theater. Stupid.”

Candidate Giuliani, who’s been unoriginally attacking the news media, said in a public broadside to WCBS: “I am left wondering whether health and safety are your primary objectives here.”

The network said in a statement its broadcast center requires all visitors be vaccinated, a policy dating to last year, made “in consultation with health care experts, government officials and the many unions representing our employees.”

— Dan Janison @Danjanison

Talking Point

Next steps in Baldwin?

Attorney Steven Losquadro has come up with a “pretty complete draft” of a new Town of Hempstead code that will guide the redevelopment of Baldwin, according to town chief of staff Jack Libert.

The 45-day mark since Losquadro’s pledge in April that he would come up with such a plan, passed last week but The Point learned that the attorney has met with town officials and is now making “a couple of tweaks” to his framework. Losquadro’s involvement came after residents pushed back against the town’s previous proposal to establish a moratorium on development in Baldwin.

The new regulations likely will be published by Friday, June 24, in advance of the June 28 town board meeting. At that meeting, the board will address a resolution to hold a public hearing during its July meeting, at which point the regulations could be discussed and voted on.

“It’s not terribly different than the code before,” Libert said of the working draft.

Like the old regulations governing Baldwin’s so-called overlay zone, the new code will include a design review board that will analyze site plans and make an environmental review recommendation. If the review board thinks a development proposal conforms to the Baldwin zone, it can recommend that the proposal bypass any further state environmental review process. But the ultimate say on that decision will lie with the town board, Libert said.

“if they get a recommendation, they’re going to be almost obligated to go along with it unless there’s something really wrong in there,” Libert said.

If, however, there are significant deviations that require a variance from the existing zone, the design review board could recommend that further environmental review take place. That, too, would require town board approval.

Baldwin Civic Association past president Karen Montalbano said those initial terms didn’t seem different from anything the town had in place previously.

“I’m wondering what changes they actually made and why they actually needed to do this,” Montalbano said, noting that members of the association are arranging a meeting with Losquadro. “This whole process only stalled us.”

But Libert said if the new code is adopted in July, the town could move forward quickly with existing proposals.

“I am anticipating within a few months of the adoption, we will start banging projects out,” Libert told The Point. “There are some that are ripe to go. I’m very much development positive. We’ve got to get things done.”

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Kids know

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Quick Points

Whispers and cracks

• Some of his Democratic peers have begun to whisper that President Joe Biden should not run for reelection in 2024. Now, two years is a long time but the thing about whispers is that they usually get louder.
• Those whispers did get louder Sunday when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refused to commit to backing Biden in 2024, saying, “We will cross that bridge when we get to it.” Sounds like AOC is picturing a drawbridge — in the up position.
• Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon said former President Donald Trump showed “negligence” in not stopping the Jan. 6 riot and that he would not vote for him in 2024. Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Trump was “politically, morally responsible” for the insurrection. The Wall Street Journal wrote that “Mr. Trump betrayed his supporters by conning them on Jan. 6, and he is still doing it.” The cracks are forming.
• Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said the House Jan. 6 committee hearings will convince “reasonable, open-minded” people that former President Donald Trump knew he had lost the 2020 election. Of course, by “reasonable, open-minded” he meant anyone who is convinced.
• Planners and community advocates identified six Long Island neighborhoods as being unsafe for pedestrians and needing safety improvements. That’s just six — we all know there were a lot of communities to choose from.
• Ukraine doesn’t have enough weaponry for the war against Russia, and Russia is now making progress in the war. Which is pretty much how that equation goes.
• The reported Senate agreement on gun safety legislation includes no ban on assault weapons, no universal background checks, and no mandatory red flag laws. But it’s something. And when it comes to gun safety reforms, any kind of something is better than nothing.
• Nothing makes one feel quite so unaccomplished as reading the annual feature in Newsday about Long Island’s extraordinary high school seniors. Just saying.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie