Teachout at Hastings-on-Hudson Last Night
As promised a brief report on "Candidates Night" forum... sponsored by the local Dem committee. Hastings is a small, fairly affluent suburb just 15 minutes north of the Bronx line. Big crowd on hand. 125-150, I'd say.
1. Cuomo didn't show. ( Surprise.) Alderman ( or Selectman) of Bedford, NY was sent in his stead. First announcement: he ( Alderman "Jones"
has an important appointment in Bedford and he can only stay long enough to make his opening statement and won't be able to take any questions from the public or from the other candidates. These guys don't even put any effort into lying anymore.
2. Zephyr Teachout ( Fordham U. Law Professor and chief threat to Quid Pro Cuomo). She speaks well, makes a nice appearance. Quite knowledgeable.......esp re. corruption, her area of expertise. ( How ironic is that? No wonder Cuomo didn't show and his stooge hightailed it back to Bedford, if indeed that's where he's from.) Teachout starts her presentation with, "I have a vision." Followed by a series of visions. Ugh. That needs work. However, she remains the clear favorite of the assembled multitude. Oh yeah... she smiles too much. Actually, I think she's over-coached. Let Zephyr be Zephyr!
3. Randy Credico. A perennial candidate. The Grampa Munster of this race. He received 3 or 4 % in the NYC mayoral primary last year , he says. A former stand-up comic and... legitimately a political activist of the (far) left. I signed his petition last winter only because he promised to drop out if a more viable contender emerged. He lied.
Teachout's smart enough but she'd got to lose Credico. His comic antics ( he does Cuomo impressions, among other things) and homey familiarity w. American history makes her seem stiff by comparison. Another attendee wondered aloud how much Cuomo was paying Randy to stay in the race. But enough of Randy.
Anyway.. they took questions for about 1/2 hour and Zephyr had to get back to NYC. Credico was ready to stay all nite. He carries his dog... some kind of white, Yorkie-type thing ...in his backpack. But enough about Randy. ( I thought I said that already.)
Hastings is a cool, old little town. I wandered around its small downtown afterwards. I'm adding it to my list of possible retirement sites.
= new reply since forum marked as read