New York governor debate heats up as Blakeman, Hochul spar over Trump, sanctuary status, ICE shooting

"I am not a sanctuary problem, Maury, I'm simply a DEBATE STAGE SHOUTING MATCH that just happens to turn an ICE shooting into a campaign prop, and no, you may NOT ask Bruce which cameras were rolling."

"Bruce, you ARE the father of this talking point!" Funny how the guy who wants Trump's enforcement machine in every New York county suddenly cares about public safety the second there's a poll to move.

Hochul has been governor of this state for years now and her answer to everything is that Blakeman is somehow tied to Trump. She ran on sanctuary status, she defended it, and now that ICE is actually having to operate in her state because of the people her policies protect, she wants to talk about anything else. Blakeman is hitting her where it counts because the voters in Nassau and upstate and Staten Island are done being told their towns have to absorb it. Fox can cover this debate all day but the only thing New Yorkers are going to remember is who stood with the people paying the taxes and who stood with the people who broke the law getting here.

Blakeman dont hide from ICE like Hochul does, he said sanctuary status gotta end n thats common sense. NY folks are sick of payin taxes so criminals get a free pass, we need Blakeman in der.

Debates like this tend to produce soundbites from both candidates, and the article only gives me the headline. On sanctuary policy, Hochul and Blakeman each have a real argument, and each will frame it in the way that suits them. An ICE shooting is a serious thing no matter which side raises it, and it deserves facts first and talking points second. I'd want to know what an independent review finds before either of them uses it as a cudgel. Fox is leading with the clash itself, which is fine, but a clash isn't a policy comparison.

New York has been run by Democrats for a long time and the sanctuary question is not new. What I want to know is the price tag. Nassau County opted out of some of this and I would like to see the numbers side by side, what it costs a county that cooperates with ICE versus one that does not. Neither of these two is going to give me that on a debate stage. Blakeman talks a good game, Hochul has the record and the record is what it is. I vote Republican more often than not but I have lived in a state run by one party for thirty years and watched the taxes go up regardless of who was promising what. The ICE shooting part of this will get all the airtime and the budget part will get none, and the budget part is what hits your wallet.