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Gingrich-Cuomo Cooper Union Debate Transcripts
- Introductions by Cooper Union President George Campbell and Harold Holzer
- Remarks by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia)
- Remarks by former New York Governor Mario Cuomo (D)
- Q&A with Gingrich and Cuomo moderated by NBC’s Tim Russert
Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich do not agree on much. But they do agree that people should understand why it is that they disagree.
That was what compelled the two to take the stage Feb. 28 in the Great Hall at Cooper Union for a night billed as “A Lincoln-Inspired Event.” The two of them spoke at length and without interruption about some of the values they hope to see included in the discussions over who will be the next president—and who should be.
With the 2008 White House race well underway and many already complaining about the lack of substance, Cuomo and Gingrich joined Tim Russert, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer in encouraging the prospective presidential candidates to dig deeper. To demonstrate that this could be done—and to show them how—they used the same lectern from which Abraham Lincoln delivered his famed “Cooper Union Address” 147 years and one day earlier, in what many say was a decisive factor in his win of the seminal 1860 presidential race.
Gingrich spoke first, using most of his speech to contrast what he called a disparity between the growing capabilities of the private sector and the continuing inability of government. The extent to which government had failed, Gingrich argued, was evident in the response and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He called that “a failure of government” at the federal, state and municipal level.
Similar problems, he said, plagued the government’s approach to health care, immigration policy, security and the Iraq War.
“Bureaucracies in Washington would rather fail than change, because change is scary, and failure is business as usual,” he said.
When Cuomo went to the lectern, he said he was surprised to hear a condemnation of the current government with which he agreed come out of the mouth of Gingrich. Over the course of the evening, Cuomo said twice that Gingrich would make a “great” candidate for president for the Republicans. The former speaker, who left office in 1999, is said to be mulling a bid.
Cuomo, however, disagreed with Gingrich’s assessment that government was always behind the times. Success with the Manhattan Project in building an atom bomb during World War II showed that government could achieve advanced ends, Cuomo said. The problem in his view was with how those in power generally choose to use those abilities and the innovations they yield.
He demanded that people address the income disparities throughout the country, noting as an example the depth of poverty today in the Queens neighborhood where he grew up compared to the level of affluence in so many other areas of the city. The tens of millions of Americans without health insurance was another demonstration of the massive problem at hand.
Government, he said, is obligated to help those who have not had the same benefits as others, with responsible politicians describing precisely how they would achieve this goal. He said taxes must be increased on the wealthiest Americans to create new programs and improve existing ones.
Both Gingrich and Cuomo agreed to speak for an uninterrupted half hour, using notes as necessary. Cuomo went over his limit, finishing closer to 40 minutes. The two then sat for an additional 30 minutes, answering questions from Russert.
The participants encouraged each presidential candidate to pledge now to, if nominated, participate in such 90-minute dialogues held in different spots around the country during the nine weeks of the campaign between Labor Day and Election Day of next year.
Russert said that he would use his influential and popular Sunday news program to press all the presidential candidates who appear on the show to agree.
Cooper Union President George Campbell, Jr. said that for the good and benefit of everyone, he hoped they would.
“We issue a call to all of the candidates to come to the Great Hall to put aside their marketing strategies, to leave their slogans, to leave their sound bites, to step away from their handlers—and engage this audience of New Yorkers as Abraham Lincoln did,” Campbell said.