The hosts of next week’s debate for the NY-9 race are crowd-sourcing for suggested questions to ask Democrat David Weprin and Republican Bob Turner.
#AskWeprin and #AskTurner are the hashtags I’m hoping people will use. #NY9debate is good too.
As Colby Hamilton noted, Weprin has been somewhat vague on policy specifics, namely, Hamilton argues, because he probably won’t be in a position to do much. And Turner’s policies — protecting entitlement programs while somehow shrinking the deficit — aren’t really based in anything actionable.
Each have obvious vulnerabilities that could make for an interesting debate.
Weprin’s nuanced position on same-sex marriage is a headache for some of his allies (especially those in the LGBT community who recently threw him a fund-raiser). And Turner walked away from the one policy position everyone in the NY delegation seemed to agree on: universal support the Zadroga bill.
If it sounds like they’re running for some big, powerful, national position with no real geographic root, it’s because, in a way, the are.
Most of the debate in this race has revolved around national issues, and hardly around anything specific to the district, which covers a patchwork of blue collar neighborhoods in southern Queens and northern Brooklyn.
Thanks to redistricting, not many people expect the seat to exist in any recognizable form by next year; even advocates of independent redistricting say so.
So, I guess, feel free to ask them anything.
