The Daily Newarker

Here’s some coverage of last night’s Cablevision debate. Unfortunately, no podcast.

??Damien Cave?? from the ??New York Times??: “In a Debate of Newark Mayoral Candidates, Some Agreement and a Lot of Discord”:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/04/nyregion/04newark.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.

“Ron Rice was the deputy mayor right next to Mayor James during all the fiscal scandals,” Mr. Booker said. And when Mr. Rice countered by noting that his deputy mayor position “is pretty much ceremonial,” Mr. Booker said that if he is elected, “the first thing I will cut is the ceremonial deputy mayor who makes $80,000 to say nothing and do nothing.”

Ouch–that had to hurt.

??Jeffrey C. Mays?? and ??Brad Parks?? of the ??Newark Star Ledger??: “Newark mayoral candidates face off”:http://www.nj.com/newslogs/mayorsrace/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_mayorrace/archives/2006_05.html#137713 (at 12:13 AM, God bless ‘em).

“Why is it that millions of dollars continue to follow you from Arkansas,” Rice asked in more of a rambling statement than question. “Who really are you? Who do you really represent?”

??Brad Parks?? also has some instant analysis of the debate: “How well the candidates debated”:http://www.nj.com/newslogs/mayorsrace/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_mayorrace/archives/2006_05.html#137689.

BOOKER’S WEAKNESSES: “He showed some vulnerability on his record as a councilman and in his ability to connect to the day-to-day experience of Newarkers. You wonder what he’d be talking about if he didn’t have Sharpe James’ record to attack. I was a little surprised by how much Cory chose to attack Ron Rice. He has a large lead in the polls, but he wasn’t acting like a candidate with a large lead.”

And, finally, some more reactions from non-media-affiliated Newarkers. Newark Speaks: “The Great Debate”:http://newarkspeaks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2166. Here’s ??5Reasons??:

You would never know Rice was a public official for 25 years by last night’s performance. He was horrible. Geez, even Blount was better than him. In fact, for those hardcore Booker-haters, rather than waste a vote on Rice, you’re better off rewarding Blount with your vote, since he did make quite a few good points. I admit, I like Blount mainly because he’s actually worked in the private sector.