On Tuesday, incumbent New York Gov. Kathy Hochul debated her Republican challenger, Rep. Lee Zeldin, and the end result is that Hochul is now in hiding.
Where’s Kathy? She’s spending the remaining campaign hours out of the limelight after a mediocre debate performance in which she questioned why locking up criminals was so important. No sooner than the words came out of her mouth than she immediately realized what she said and what it sounded like. With skyrocketing crime rates in New York City, subway murders double the rate of previous years, and a sense of fear among citizens of all political persuasions, Hochul might’ve made a Terry McAuliffe-level debate error.
We all remember this moment from the Virginia gubernatorial debate in October 2021 between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe. The question was about parental rights in education. Youngkin was running on a platform that could be summed up as “parents matter.” Judging from this clip, McAuliffe lined up with the opposite view that not only do parents not matter, but they shouldn’t have a say over anything to do with their child’s education:
Terry McAuliffe on parental involvement in education: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach”
That line, where McAuliffe said the quiet part out loud, told parents of all backgrounds everything they needed to know about where Democrats stand on parental involvement in education. Youngkin went on to beat McAuliffe and turn a state that went +10 to Joe Biden in 2020 into a Republican-controlled state once again.
What about Gov. Kathy Hochul and how does she relate? On Tuesday night, the first portion of the debate was devoted to the topic of crime. During the back-and-forth, Hochul plainly stated she couldn’t understand why Zeldin was making such a big deal out of locking up criminals:
MUST WATCH…Why are Dems in trouble in NY Gov? This attitude toward crime and safety
Zeldin: She still hasn't talked about locking up anyone committing any crimes
Hochul: Anyone who commits a crime under our laws…has consequences…I don't know why that's so important to you pic.twitter.com/uO3Vkf83OC
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) October 25, 2022
Kathy Hochul on locking up criminals: “I don’t know why that’s so important to you”
Once said, it couldn’t be unsaid and it demonstrated the exact attitude that Zeldin has been hammering. An aversion to reality and a shrinking of responsibility when it comes to keeping New Yorkers safe.
That crime issue seems to be repelling New Yorkers of all stripes away from Hochul as even many Democrats are recognizing that coddling criminal behavior is a policy that puts everyone at risk:
Many lifelong Democrats are throwing their support behind Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, saying rising crime and concerns about education have turned them against Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Madeline Brame, a New York City mother whose son was murdered, Asian Wave Alliance President Yiatin Chu and former Democratic New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss why those issues are taking center stage this election cycle.
“Who is running this town? That’s a good question,” Brame told co-host Steve Doocy. “I guess the criminals are running the town. The criminals run the place. They do what they want, when they want, however they want to, to whomever they want with no consequences.”
Brame’s son, Army Sgt. Hason Correa, was killed in 2018 in Harlem after he was assaulted by several people with a knife.
Zeldin still has an uphill battle but there are doors open to make it happen. Hochul has gone into hiding after the debate as she continues to run a campaign of avoiding questions and shirking responsibility for her policies and corruption.
As noted, some polls show the race tied or within a few points. It all depends on turnout but New York has a fork in the road and the potential to make a change. It’ll be an interesting election night in the Empire State.
