Rochesterturning has the most in-depth coverage of last night's debate. Rnews's short story on the debate is the only other piece I've seen. It sounds like not much new ground was covered.
According to Rnews, in a question on Katrina, both candidates agreed that FEMA should be a stand-alone agency, and Kuhl was "was totally amazed at the inability and failure of FEMA just a year ago during Katrina". That's a bit of a switch from his response in Canandaigua, where he played up the speed at which Congress appropriated money during the Katrina disaster.
Rochesterturning reports that Massa gave a defense of same sex civil unions. Kuhl repeated his opposition to gay marriage. The issue of equal rights for homosexuals is an interesting one for Republicans, since the Foley scandal has revealed the hypocrisy that surrounds this issue in the upper echelons of the Republican party. Closeted homosexuals are apparently OK, as are openly gay advisors, as long as neither group demands equal rights.
Comments
According to Rnews, in a question on Katrina, both candidates agreed that FEMA should be a stand-alone agency, and Kuhl was "was totally amazed at the inability and failure of FEMA just a year ago during Katrina".
That's correct. In fairness, his original comment was about Congressional appropriations, not FEMA.
Rep. Kuhl may now be "totally amazed at the inability and failure of FEMA just a year ago", but approximately one year ago, at one of his townhall meetings, he did not feel this way. When a constituent asked his opinion of the federal response to Katrina's events, he said that he didn't know what had happened, that he was not going to play the "blame game", that there was blame to go around at the state and local levels (right after he said that he was not going to play the "blame game"), and that there would be an investigation at the federal level to determine what had happened.
Even after the constituent questioned if he had watched any of the news coverage during the immediate aftermath, he would not commit to saying anything positive or negative about the FEMA/ federal government response. I guess we will have to take him at his word and believe that he formed his opinion of FEMA's response after the investigation was completed.
Ellicatt - that's an interesting story I don't understand the reflexive need to spin. Clearly there were issues with FEMA in Katrina. Acknowledging what is plainly true and putting faith in the investigation seems like the smart move, rather than trying to deflect all criticism of the federal response.
OK--you got me started. Ten-to-twelve years ago COngressman Kuhl made a fool of himself--any thinking person was embarrassed,and letters to the editor showed it--by saying, during some gay rights debate in Albany, that "Gays choose to be the way they are; they aren't like, say, Italians." I'm serious; his GOP opponent, during the final week of the primary two years ago, dredged up the coverage which at the time was BIG even in Steuben. A guy with alaw degree who was graduated from Union College, too??? Being so thoughtless? Anyway, where IS the fellow he beat a couple of years ago? I would be curious. Penfield, maybe?
FEMA? To bad this isn't happening in Buffalo, because all the Buffalo TV stations are asking where FEMA is.
Pepper - Mark Assini was a Monroe Co legislator but retired. He still writes a column for Bob Lonsberry:
http://www.lonsberry.com/markAssini.cfm
LV Vet - Well, I'm sure Tom Reynolds would rather be asked about FEMA than about Foley.