YOU CALL THAT A DEBATE?

Sunday's "debate" among seven candidates for governor of New York State was
a light political merry-go-round, a 90-minute whirl in which each candidate
had no more than a dozen minutes to address issues great and incredibly
minor. George Pataki, the incumbent, had insisted that all third-party
candidates be included. The governor should get points for politeness, but
it was obvious that his real goal was to drain the event of any import.

Mr. Pataki, a Republican, now says he was wrong eight years ago, when he
ran against Mario Cuomo, to have insisted on one-on-one debates while Mr.
Cuomo was the one who wanted to get lost in a crowd. The present governor
certainly seemed satisfied with the muddled production Sunday, sitting
calmly while the Marijuana Reform candidate suggested that legalized pot
would raise state revenues, the Libertarian candidate argued that he was a
pot-smoker who didn't want to pay any more taxes on anything and the Right
to Life candidate waved at his students.

Meanwhile, former Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, is doing much the
same debate tango in New Jersey with his G.O.P. opponent, Douglas
Forrester, in the race for the open United States Senate seat. Mr.
Lautenberg, who like Mr. Pataki is ahead in the polls, has also argued for
safety in numbers. He keeps insisting on including all the third-party
candidates in any debate, and has dropped the debates scheduled by Senator
Robert Torricelli, the original Democratic candidate, who dropped out. Mr.
Pataki and Mr. Lautenberg should get real, and do the voters the courtesy
of allowing at least one meaningful face-off between the two major party
candidates.