Was there or wasn’t there a debate last night ??? --- Well, maybe THAT depends on whom you ask !!!

When is a "City Council Debate” not a debate  ???  ---  Maybe, when the "debate" participants neither address each other or the relevant issues; and instead,  they are asked to talk about themselves, and then asked to give answers "en masse" to a few random questions !!!

There is no question that the current GOP primary for City Council in the 43^rd District is part and parcel of the ongoing fight inside the Kings County Republican Party to keep embattled State Senator Marty Golden from taking over the whole GOP show in Brooklyn  ---  Why didn’t any of the Republican candidates mention that ???  ---  The answer,  of course,  is that they were never asked.....

THE PRESENTATION AND REPRESENTATION OF THE HOME REPORTER EVENT SUCKED

The Home Reporter's  "DISTRICT 43 - CITY COUNCIL DEBATE"  at Xaverian High School started out with a flap about its being scheduled on the Feast of The Assumption; and it ended up with a flop caused by a changed, ersatz format that left almost everybody involved unfulfilled and extremely disappointed…..

Enough has been said on this blog about the scheduling flap and the hurt religious sensibilities resulting from that; but this latest flop by the Courier Life/ Home Reporter folks on the night of the so-called "debate" needs a fresh set of invective remarks  ---  And here they are:   

The original format was supposed to be general introductions by all the candidates assembled,  followed by Q& A for the Democrats for an hour,  then Q&A by Republicans for an hour,  and then then final remarks by each of the candidates in attendance.   That’s not what happened at all.  The Republicans and Democrats were trotted out in a bunch,  all nine of them [ well, eight at first, and then nine] and that's how they stayed throughout the entire tedious presentation.

First and foremost,  the candidates and political operators that I’ve spoken to say that this wasn’t in any way or kind a debate at all  ---  “It was more like a ‘cattle call audition’ than anything else,”   said one old Republican sage;  and  another participant described it as like “… a cavalry charge by a bunch of people heading in lots of different directions….”

THE REPUBLICAN  CANDIDATES

John Quaglione kicked things off by not being there at the start,  and losing his assigned place in giving introductory remarks  [however, it should be noted that one of his opponents offered that JQ’s tardiness might have been due to the changed format;  whereas  a spokesperson for another opposing campaign said he would have been late under the earlier proposed format,  as well,  saying,  “It was typical Quaglione,  a day late and a pound short….”].   When he did speak,  Johnny Q made it clear that he worked closely with and for Marty Golden…..  [and he was clearly going to ride on his coat-tails].

According to one observer,  Liam  McCabe came off looking and acting more like a “Rock Star” than a candidate,  and he seemed to be all over the lot when it came to what he would do and what he thought was important;  however,  his own corner was happy with his performance, and he also left at least one Democrat observer impressed that he’d be the toughest Republican opponent in the fall;  and it can even be said that somebody linked to a candidate opposed to Liam in this primary contest acknowledged that Liam is starting to look and sound very much like a credible candidate. 

A few thought that Bob Capano was sort of lost in the shuffle,  until late in the program when he started slamming the Democrats hard enough that one of his GOP rivals thought that he sounded like somebody from the “Alt-Right” end of the spectrum  [hey, if that "Alt-Right" branding does take hold, Bob still might win this GOP primary].  On the other hand, one of Bob's close supporters definitely asserted that Bob did very well throughout the evening,  start to finish,  and even when he got partisan it wasn't strident or extreme.....   Hmmmmm !!!

Lucretia Regina-Potter seemed most comfortable in the stew-like tenor of the evening.  She made the most of her introductory time explaining her position in the Republican field; and then, later on,  she pivoted on most of the questions asked with answers raising issues that SHE wanted to discuss.

One longtime GOP observer said that:   “No knockout blows were scored…”;   “… Quaglione was noticeably late…”;  and that Bob Capano seemed a little harsh when he went after the Democrats.

CRAIG EATON,  TED GHORRA & MARTY G.

I’d be very interested to know what Craig Eaton, Ted Ghorra and SSMG thought about the GOP candidates’ performances…..  They were all reported to have been in the house.

More important than that, right now,  I’d like to know whether there might have been any side conversations going on between CE, TG and/or MG while the various candidates were talking up on-stage.   One wag reported to me that they saw CE and TG talking;  but that has been vehemently denied by one of the alleged participants in that tight band of brothers moment  ---  and certainly,  TG must have chatted-up MG at some point in the evening.

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NOTE:   AT THIS TIME,  I HAVE GOTTEN NO  REAL FEEDBACK CONCERNING ANY OF THE DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES OR WHAT PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THEIR JOINT AND SEVERAL PERFORMANCE(S)