Steven A. Levine
Coordinator for Educational Programs
As we approach tomorrow night's mayoral debate at the CUNY
Graduate Center, I thought it was a good time to look at how other candidates
prepared for a debate by watching a video of Deputy Mayor Alair
Townsend describe her experiences as Mayor Ed Koch's
practice debate partner in 1985.
To prepare for his debate against City Council President Carol
Bellamy, his Democratic Primary opponent, Ed Koch chose Townsend. Townsend
claimed she was chosen because she had glasses and high cheek bones like
Bellamy, but it is also clear she was a more than worthy debate opponent. When
his campaign adviser David Garth told Koch that Townsend had beat him after the
first mock debate, Ed Koch responded by saying, "She had the better
[debate] book!" Watch
Alair Townsend describe the debate, her preparation and
the debate book in this interview with the La Guardia and Wagner Archives' Tara
Jean Hickman.
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