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Candidates for governor to meet in first network television debate
Originally appeared in the Associated Press on 10/25/01 5:23 PM EWING, N.J. (AP) -- After warming up in three combative forums for smaller audiences, Democrat Jim McGreevey and Republican Bret Schundler were set to go prime time Thursday in the first of two debates to be broadcast on network-affiliated stations.
With 12 days to go until Election Day, both candidates for governor are competing not only with each other but with terrorism, war and anthrax to get public attention. The campaigns are going into the homestretch and will begin their heaviest spending on TV commercials.
This is an especially crucial task for Schundler, who acknowledges he is trailing in the polls but takes heart in the fact recent trends in some polls show him close and closing.
The Thursday debate at the College of New Jersey was scheduled to be aired live on ABC-TV affiliates in New York and Philadelphia. The candidates are scheduled to face off again Sunday morning at NBC studios in Manhattan to be broadcast on that network's affiliates in the two cities.
Previous debates in the past two weeks reached limited audiences on Comcast cable, New Jersey Network public television and New Jersey 101.5 FM talk radio.
Schundler during previous debates has hammered McGreevey on tax cuts while McGreevey has attacked him for threatening to dismantle public education.
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