June 5, 2025 • 6 mins
Mendte in the Morning talks to Laura Curran about the first NYC Mayoral debate and how she thinks Andrew Cuomo held up as the front runner.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's get the Laura Kurran, political commentator and former
NASA County executive. Good morning, Lauren, Laura, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Because it's Laura Curran sort of you know, you blend
it together, it's Lauren.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah. No, I should get Laura right every single time.
But how about how about last night? What's your takeaway?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well? I listened instead of watch, which I always I
always feel I can pay attention better if I'm not
distracted by the visual. And it really seems to me
like everyone was ready. Everyone brought their a game. I think,
real service for voters. Moderators great on time, on task,
you know some one of the moderators, which was so
(00:46):
you know, yeah, these really short answers one minute, thirty seconds,
and everyone was ready to go. Obviously everyone attacking the
front runner, Andrew Cuomo, so they were all ready with
their attacks and little size asides. And that's thing I
thought he comported himself well. He kept his cool, which
is really important when you have eight people coming at you.
I think it's important to stay calm, answer what you can,
(01:09):
jab where you can, but don't let it get you flustered,
which is exactly what he did. And the other surprise
was Tilson. You mentioned that earlier, Whitney Tilton. I think
you're right. A lot of people saw him for the
first time, and I'm sure around New York City Google
searchers were lighting up for this Whitney Tilton guy. Who
is he? Because he was interesting and he seemed very
much like a non politician. He just talked like a
normal guy. And it'll be interesting to see if this
(01:32):
debate increases his visibility.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You know, it's weird how they stage this because in
the presidential debates it goes by poll numbers, So whoever's
leading in the polls is right there front and center.
And Andrew Cuomo was front and center, but then Whitney
Tilson was right next to him. I mean, that's a
prime spot. I just can't figure out how they settle that.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I wondered that too. I wondered about the placement of it.
And I mean, usually in a debate of that size,
you have one or three candidates who are dominating the floor.
You didn't really have that last night. Everyone. I think
voters really got a chance to see what each of
these voters was like in terms of just their vibe
(02:17):
and their aura and their personality, but also their policies,
what's important to them, what they're emphasizing in their campaigns.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
What I saw was a group of far left liberal
politicians ganging up on the moderate in the race. And
it concerns me because I think that that's orchestrated. I
think they Yeah, we've seen at news conferences they're all together,
and so, I mean, it keeps looking like we have
(02:45):
a real possibility of a mayor Zamdani.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It is a fact that they are all ganging up
on Cuomo. But I think what is good for Cuomo
is there are so many of them, there is rank
choice voting. I know they're all kind of playing the
Survivor game of aligning with a certain team. Just vote
for these three people to put me at the top.
I know that's what mom Donni's doing. I've seen some
(03:11):
of his stuff. But I think they're just gonna end
up cannibalizing each other and you know a lot, and
I think Cuomo will be a lot of people's number
two if he's not their number one. So I think
I think this only helps Andrew Cuomo.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You know, it's funny. I watched it on YouTube and
the Mamdani people were very active on YouTube. So I
was watching the comments to the side, and one of
the comments constantly, and it was always in bold letters
from several different people is don't rank Cuomo if you
vote for Zamdanmi, don't rank Cuomo at all. And that
(03:46):
was constant. It was a constant thread, and I thought
to myself, Wow, that is well orchestrated, because I didn't
see anybody else on there doing that. It seems like
this candidacy that he's running mostly on the internet with
videos and on YouTube has been really effective and the
other candidates need to catch up.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, and this will you know, this could do something
with the youth vote, people who are very online. But
remember the majority of voters are not. They're working, they're
raising their families, they're riding the subway, they're doing what
they got to do to get through the day. Not
a lot of people have the luxury of time to
spend that amount of time online or thanks frankly, have
the interest to. And Cuomo has a has a big
(04:30):
appeal in vast swats of the city, with older folks,
with the with the black community, uh, you know, with
with working people. So he's got a lot of union support,
So this could this could you know? I mean, we
do see mom Donnie surging. He is doing well in
the polls. He is doing better in the polls. This
campaign is his campaign is very well organized, you know,
(04:50):
in a way that socialist organizers are well organized. But
I do think in the end there will be a
cannibalizing effect of the for to the left candidates.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Well, I hope you're right, because I listened to the
Emerson polster who said, among likely voters, now we saw
on like the tenth ballot he loses finally by nine
to Cuomo. But he said among likely voters, they're tie.
They're tie on the on the tenth ballot. So everybody
seems to be saying, oh, don't worry about it, don't
worry about it. He's gonna fade. He's going to fade.
(05:21):
He's not fading, And no he's not.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
He's surging, and you have to be worried about it. Honestly,
if you do not want him to be the mayor,
this is something that you should be very concerned about
and get out the vote for your candidate, whoever you
think that is.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, I just hope that message gets out because so
far he just keeps rising, and I think it'd be
horrible for the city and nobody and the media has
not paid enough attention and not asked them the right questions,
like how are you possibly going to pay for all
of this?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You know, if I live in the city, you know,
I'm in Nassau County, I would ask myself, who is
the one with the record of actually running and managing
and building things. If you've if you've been a legislator
for a short period of time, you don't have that
kind of experience. You know, it is very challenging. You
have headwinds constantly, and you can't It's not just a
cute little slogan or a punchy little line. You got
(06:11):
to actually manage and run things. And I think a
lot of people when they look at that see Cuomo,
even if they're not in love with the guy. He's
built things, he's gotten things, and he's managed crises. And
I thought he had a compelling case about who can
stand up to Trump the best?
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Well, that's interesting. I do think he has a ceiling
and that's what worries me. But let's talk again. We'll
talk again next week. Loria current political commentator and former
NASA County executive. Thank you, Laura.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Oh, you're welcome. Bye bye,
Now let's get the Laura Kurran, political commentator and former
NASA County executive. Good morning, Lauren, Laura, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Because it's Laura Curran sort of you know, you blend
it together, it's Lauren.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah. No, I should get Laura right every single time.
But how about how about last night? What's your takeaway?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well? I listened instead of watch, which I always I
always feel I can pay attention better if I'm not
distracted by the visual. And it really seems to me
like everyone was ready. Everyone brought their a game. I think,
real service for voters. Moderators great on time, on task,
you know some one of the moderators, which was so
(00:46):
you know, yeah, these really short answers one minute, thirty seconds,
and everyone was ready to go. Obviously everyone attacking the
front runner, Andrew Cuomo, so they were all ready with
their attacks and little size asides. And that's thing I
thought he comported himself well. He kept his cool, which
is really important when you have eight people coming at you.
I think it's important to stay calm, answer what you can,
(01:09):
jab where you can, but don't let it get you flustered,
which is exactly what he did. And the other surprise
was Tilson. You mentioned that earlier, Whitney Tilton. I think
you're right. A lot of people saw him for the
first time, and I'm sure around New York City Google
searchers were lighting up for this Whitney Tilton guy. Who
is he? Because he was interesting and he seemed very
much like a non politician. He just talked like a
normal guy. And it'll be interesting to see if this
(01:32):
debate increases his visibility.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You know, it's weird how they stage this because in
the presidential debates it goes by poll numbers, So whoever's
leading in the polls is right there front and center.
And Andrew Cuomo was front and center, but then Whitney
Tilson was right next to him. I mean, that's a
prime spot. I just can't figure out how they settle that.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I wondered that too. I wondered about the placement of it.
And I mean, usually in a debate of that size,
you have one or three candidates who are dominating the floor.
You didn't really have that last night. Everyone. I think
voters really got a chance to see what each of
these voters was like in terms of just their vibe
(02:17):
and their aura and their personality, but also their policies,
what's important to them, what they're emphasizing in their campaigns.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
What I saw was a group of far left liberal
politicians ganging up on the moderate in the race. And
it concerns me because I think that that's orchestrated. I
think they Yeah, we've seen at news conferences they're all together,
and so, I mean, it keeps looking like we have
(02:45):
a real possibility of a mayor Zamdani.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
It is a fact that they are all ganging up
on Cuomo. But I think what is good for Cuomo
is there are so many of them, there is rank
choice voting. I know they're all kind of playing the
Survivor game of aligning with a certain team. Just vote
for these three people to put me at the top.
I know that's what mom Donni's doing. I've seen some
(03:11):
of his stuff. But I think they're just gonna end
up cannibalizing each other and you know a lot, and
I think Cuomo will be a lot of people's number
two if he's not their number one. So I think
I think this only helps Andrew Cuomo.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You know, it's funny. I watched it on YouTube and
the Mamdani people were very active on YouTube. So I
was watching the comments to the side, and one of
the comments constantly, and it was always in bold letters
from several different people is don't rank Cuomo if you
vote for Zamdanmi, don't rank Cuomo at all. And that
(03:46):
was constant. It was a constant thread, and I thought
to myself, Wow, that is well orchestrated, because I didn't
see anybody else on there doing that. It seems like
this candidacy that he's running mostly on the internet with
videos and on YouTube has been really effective and the
other candidates need to catch up.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, and this will you know, this could do something
with the youth vote, people who are very online. But
remember the majority of voters are not. They're working, they're
raising their families, they're riding the subway, they're doing what
they got to do to get through the day. Not
a lot of people have the luxury of time to
spend that amount of time online or thanks frankly, have
the interest to. And Cuomo has a has a big
(04:30):
appeal in vast swats of the city, with older folks,
with the with the black community, uh, you know, with
with working people. So he's got a lot of union support,
So this could this could you know? I mean, we
do see mom Donnie surging. He is doing well in
the polls. He is doing better in the polls. This
campaign is his campaign is very well organized, you know,
(04:50):
in a way that socialist organizers are well organized. But
I do think in the end there will be a
cannibalizing effect of the for to the left candidates.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Well, I hope you're right, because I listened to the
Emerson polster who said, among likely voters, now we saw
on like the tenth ballot he loses finally by nine
to Cuomo. But he said among likely voters, they're tie.
They're tie on the on the tenth ballot. So everybody
seems to be saying, oh, don't worry about it, don't
worry about it. He's gonna fade. He's going to fade.
(05:21):
He's not fading, And no he's not.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
He's surging, and you have to be worried about it. Honestly,
if you do not want him to be the mayor,
this is something that you should be very concerned about
and get out the vote for your candidate, whoever you
think that is.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, I just hope that message gets out because so
far he just keeps rising, and I think it'd be
horrible for the city and nobody and the media has
not paid enough attention and not asked them the right questions,
like how are you possibly going to pay for all
of this?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
You know, if I live in the city, you know,
I'm in Nassau County, I would ask myself, who is
the one with the record of actually running and managing
and building things. If you've if you've been a legislator
for a short period of time, you don't have that
kind of experience. You know, it is very challenging. You
have headwinds constantly, and you can't It's not just a
cute little slogan or a punchy little line. You got
(06:11):
to actually manage and run things. And I think a
lot of people when they look at that see Cuomo,
even if they're not in love with the guy. He's
built things, he's gotten things, and he's managed crises. And
I thought he had a compelling case about who can
stand up to Trump the best?
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Well, that's interesting. I do think he has a ceiling
and that's what worries me. But let's talk again. We'll
talk again next week. Loria current political commentator and former
NASA County executive. Thank you, Laura.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Oh, you're welcome. Bye bye,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.