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Cooper Union - Cuomo & Gingrich

Last night at the Cooper Union, made famous by Abraham Lincoln's speech in 1860 that propelled him into stardom and won him the Republican nomination and later, the presidency of the United States of America, held a debate forum between to men, dubbed as two great orators of our time, former Governor Mario Cuomo and former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

In the heart of Manhattan, one would have expected an auditorium filled with liberal democrats and a miniscule amount of scattered republicans, but to my surprise, the 900 seat room was well balanced in support for the two speakers. Journalist Tim Russert was there to moderate the debate part of the forum and I commend him for showing up, because he recently broke his leg and by the looks of how he was walking, must've been in some pain.

Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke first, addressing the crowd with a very well thought out introduction and breaking up his talking points into three sections 1) the political culture, 2) national security, and 3) health care. The speaker compared the current political culture to the one of the 1850s, where this nation was being torn into two opposing factions and how the threat of the nation was at stake. Though he didn't believe our current climate is of the same magnitude, the destruction of a nation, it is reaching parallels at a different level because of the technology current available.

Speaker Gingrich held kept a positive approach to his address, drawing from the spirit of Ronald Reagan, that America can do better and will do better with the right message and the right bi-partisan culture in Washington. He showed why he led the in 1994 with the Contract with America and kept his views clear and simple and very forward thinking.

Governor Mario Cuomo spoke next and the message was a complete 180 to Newt's. Cuomo, once known for great liberal speeches, came out and harped on the exact destructive culture that Speaker Gingrich said we must move beyond. Gov. Cuomo offered no new ideas and no future plan for Democrtas and gave a very partisan speech that to many (and I asked a few people in attendence), was twenty years out-of-date. Or it was at least a 1992 political campaign speech. Failing economy, the rich benefit while the poor does not, the middle class is suffering, the evils of religious influence in the presidency, the fear-mongering of trying to change social security, and all the great things that government can give you when the Democrats are in power, and the dangers that government can give you when the Republicans are in power.

I couldn't believe how contrasting the messages were from these two speakers. It was easy for Democrats to win an off-year election by running against President Bush, since this administration has made some missteps and in order to hold our president accountable, we must change something in Washington. But in 2008, President Bush cannot run again, and the American People will want to look forward. If Mario Cuomo is the great orator for the Democratic Party when it comes to a message for the voters, than we'll see another Republican president following this one.

There is one point I'd like to end with, which is very disturbing to me. The Cooper Union auditorium holds about 900 people. It's in the heart of Manhattan, an island of ethnic diversity and various immigrants from all over the world. One would think that New York City would fill Cooper Union with a diverse politically active culture to watch Gov. Cuomo and Speaker Gingrich. Sadly, I saw very, very few non-white faces. This event was free and it was well promoted. Where was that ethnic diversity that New York so often praises?

by Daniel Peterson, Thursday, Mar. 1 | Permalink