Spitzer and Suozzi square off

Last night, Attorney General Elliot Spitzer and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi squared off in a debate at Pace University, both candidates held there own said Blaber but at the end of the night there defiantly was a clear winner, Elliot Spitzer has better idea for NY state and Mr.Suozzi choose to attack the attorney general on a number of things and I think it back fired; people do not want that type of campaign. They want someone who will stick to the issues and Mr. Spitzer did just that.



Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Tom Suozzi clashed in the first governor's campaign debate on Tuesday night. If you look at the polls, it's obvious Tom Suozzi's in trouble: almost 70 points down and he had to go on the attack tonight. He did from the very beginning.

Suozzi: "Eliot's been in office past seven and a half years in Albany and he's never really focused on government reform. Instead, he's focused on Wall Street."

Spitzer hit back, accusing Suozzi of balancing Nassau County's budget with higher taxes and criticized him for running a negative campaign.

Spitzer: "You called me King George. You said standing up to me is like fighting tyranny. Last time I checked Tom, we hadn't taxed any of your tea."

They clashed on many key issues, like gay marriage:

Spitzer: "I think same sex marriage should be legal. I will propose a bill to permit that to be the case in the state of New York."

Suozzi: "I do not agree with Eliot Spitzer and I do not support gay marriage."
Death penalty:

Suozzi: "I will always remain opposed to the death penalty on principle."

Spitzer: "In context of crimes against humanity, terrorism, death of police officers, yes I believe the death penalty is appropriate sanction."
They also disagreed on Mayor Bloomberg's praise of Con Edison CEO Kevin Burke.

Spitzer: "Do I share my good friend Mike Bloomberg's view of the CEO of Con Ed, absolutely not. I was stunned that he said it."

Suozzi: "There's no question. Con Ed should've done a better job, but I'm not going to second guess the mayor and say he was wrong."

And when asked if either candidates was interested in becoming the president of the United States, they disagreed on that too.

Spitzer: "No, I'm not."

Suozzi: "Yes, I am."

Only Tom Suozzi met with reporters after the debate. He accused Eliot Spitzer of becoming hostile backstage because Suozzi was holding a book with notes. Spitzer's campaign pointed out that having notes was against debate rules.

Suozzi needed this debate to give his campaign some exposure. The problem is: it was seen only by a handful of cable viewers.