CAMMARANO CHALLENGES OPPONENT TO SEVEN DEBATES
(Hoboken, N.J.) -- Hoboken Councilman Peter Cammarano is asking his opponent, Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer, to agree to a series of seven debates before the run-off campaign for mayor on June 9.
In an "Open Letter" to Zimmer, Cammarano says the following:
"First, as I did on election night, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and your team for running a good campaign and reaching the run-off election. We both can be proud of the fact that we ran positive, issue oriented campaigns and I am sure that we both will continue to do so over the next few weeks.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to agree to participate in a series of campaign debates in order to give the people of Hoboken the opportunity to hear and evaluate our positions on the issues. By personally debating these issues, the voters will hear directly from us, one on one, unfiltered by campaign or media messaging.
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas participated in a series of seven transformational debates that forever changed the way political campaigns were conducted in this country. Today, we share the opportunity to forever change the way campaigns are conducted in Hoboken. Let's have seven debates. Let's talk about where we agree and where we disagree. Let's give the voters a chance to really get to know where we stand.
Dawn, I sincerely hope that you will accept this challenge. I will be contacting you shortly to discuss this matter further. "
My comment: Once again, Peter Cammarano quotes Lincoln in a press release like he did when he announced his run for Mayor. The call for a specific number 7 is a lot considering that there are less than four weeks to go until the runoff. That number was picked out of historical context as the original Lincoln Douglas Debates spanned 3 months and the time frame remaining is not conducive to that number given one of the candidates is running a grass roots campaign and the other is much more likely to get machine support.
I did speak to POG head Eric Kurta after the last Mayoral debate and he said they were considering a one-on-one debate format with back and forth between the two mayoral candidates. NJ.com may host another one as well. We will see what develops.
I do partially agree with Peter Cammarano that there should be a few debates and that those should be well attended. Voters should not just rely on Hoboken Now, NJ.com, the Hoboken Reporter, my blog or any others to solely determine their choice. The debates are a better way as well as meet and greets. Also, important is to review the candidate's voting records to see how their votes match up to the rhetoric of their campaigns.
Note: This commentary is exclusively my opinion and not that of any of the candidates mentioned. ◦
