Relentlessly smiling as they skewered each other on their sharpest differences on issues, U.S. Senate candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Rick Lazio sought in their third and final debate Friday to energize their base voters, entice the undecided and leave a last, negative impression about their rival.
So it was with some surprise that Clinton and Lazio, locked in a potentially historic, closely watched Senate race, were asked to list three things they liked about each other.
“It seems like he has a very nice family,” said Clinton, 53, looking bemused at the unexpected political parlor game. “And that he has worked very hard and that he’s an, uh, attractive young man.”
Lazio, 42, appeared to swallow hard, then gallantly returned the compliment. “Well, I think you’re an attractive woman and I think you’ve got a very nice family and I’m sure you’re a very good mother as well,” said the four-term Republican congressman from Long Island.
Both shared self-conscious laughter before Democrat Clinton quickly shifted back into battle mode. “Thank you very much, but that’s not what this election is about. What it is about are the very significant differences between us,” the first lady said.
Those differences, on such issues as school vouchers and abortion, dominated most of the hourlong debate, which was conducted at a round table, without an audience, by veteran WNBC-TV newsman Gabe Pressman in the network’s Manhattan studios.
Lazio, who toned down his performance in the second debate after being criticized as overly aggressive in their first encounter, resumed a combative posture Friday, tirelessly interrupting Clinton, exceeding the time limits on his answers and accusing her of distorting his record in Congress.
For her part, the first lady maintained the determinedly calm, take-no-prisoners steeliness that characterized her last debate appearance, rebuffing Lazio’s attempts to depict her as a carpetbagger and political opportunist who can’t be trusted. The most recent polls show Clinton with a slim lead over Lazio.
The school voucher issue set off one of the most acid exchanges Friday. “What’s important is to stay committed to the public schools system, not siphon off money for vouchers, which my opponent would do. … I have a long record of achievement and advocacy in education that I will take to the Senate,” Clinton said.
Lazio bashed her for what he described as the “dramatic reduction in achievement” in Arkansas schools during her tenure as first lady there.
“I’m not here to defend Arkansas. I’m here to run for the U.S. Senate,” said Clinton tartly.
“I realize that you don’t want to discuss Arkansas because that was a disaster for you,” said Lazio, adding, “You can’t run away from your record.”
The candidates also parried over the Middle East, each trying to seem the bigger friend of Israel. Jewish voters, who represent more than 12 percent of the state vote, currently favor Clinton by anywhere from 16 percent to 30 percent, the latest polls show.
Lazio noted that Clinton last week had returned some $50,000 in contributions from a June fundraiser after it was pointed out that many of the contributors belonged to the American Muslim Alliance, some of whose members had endorsed violence against Israel. He accused her of “cavorting” with those advocating terrorism.
Clinton, for her part, asserted that Lazio had received $1 million in contributions from the home-building industry while, as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Opportunity, he had supported reducing regulations on that industry.
“Please do not make up things,” Lazio said, denying that his positions ever have been influenced by those who supported him.
And they clashed on Medicaid funding for abortions, which he opposes, and the ban on a form of late-term abortion that he supports and she does not.
Clinton also said that, win or lose, “I will live in New York for the rest of my life.”
