H. Carl McCall, Comptroller of New York state and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, learned the value of a good education while being raised by a single mother. He took this value into the political arena as comptroller and potentially governor, although he falls substantially behind in many recent polls.

“For (McCall) education was a salvation,” said Marissa Shorenstein, deputy press secretary for the McCall campaign.

She said unlike Governor George E. Pataki, who would cut funding to higher education, McCall would increase it.

“Carl McCall has been a proponent for higher education during his time as comptroller and has proposed increasing funding and rolling back (State University of New York) and (City University of New York) tuition,” Shorenstein said.

She said McCall would not have any New York resident student pay more than $2000 for a state education, and this increase in affordability of a higher education would lead to a strengthened economy. She added that this higher-educated work force would promote research and entrepreneurship in business.

“Carl’s experience in the business world and as comptroller have taught him the importance of a quality, highly educated work force,” Shorenstein said.

Tim Schlittner, chairman of the Syracuse University College Democrats and senior political science and broadcast journalism major, said McCall is a man who has fought his entire life to improve schools and would continue this fight if elected governor.

Although McCall has used both former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D, NY) in his campaign throughout New York, Jeffrey Stonecash, department chairman and professor of political science at SU, said McCall did not do enough to mobilize Democrats throughout the state.

“All he ever says is ‘I’m for education’,” Stonecash said. “It is a really strange campaign.”

Stonecash added that McCall’s entire campaign has been below par.

“McCall has run one of the worst campaigns I have ever seen,” he said.

Schlittner said he doesn’t think McCall has a chance to win in Tuesday’s election and his campaign has been a great disappointment, because McCall was one of the best comptrollers in state history and received the highest percentage of votes ever when elected comptroller. McCall allowed Pataki to go through the election without answering some tough questions about campaign finance reform, a gay bill of rights, and education, he said.

Education is not the only issue on voters’ minds. After the recent sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., area., gun control laws have come under some scrutiny. Shorenstein said McCall has long advocated gun control.

“Clearly there is a need for heightened gun control especially after September 11 and the sniper shootings in Washington, D.C.,” she said.

McCall is for making sure law enforcement officials are adequately trained for the risks of their jobs, which include snipers and terrorist threats, Shorenstein said. She added that is important when considering the issue of gun control laws to also stress the importance of local and states officials, as well as law enforcement agents reinforcing the Canadian border.

An issue closer to home for the SU community is the construction of Destiny USA. Shorenstein said McCall feels Destiny will help the economy of New York but must include a larger economic plan for the entire state economy, which has recently declined .

“We are 50 out of 51 in the country in job growth,” she said.

Shorenstein said McCall would put forth a plan for economic development which would include bringing in and keeping new businesses.

“(McCall) knows how to attract businesses and sell our assets to them,” she said.

One difficult decision New York state politicians will face involves not only what to do at ground zero in New York City but also how to fund the project, whatever it may be.

“Carl (McCall) feels while September 11 was a horrible tragedy, it created an opportunity to create a 24-hour community,” Shorenstein said.

She said McCall thinks there should be a memorial at ground zero as well as rebuilding, including commercial and residential space as well as a transportation hub. The hub would help connect the city of New York. Shorenstein said McCall’s first step in the World Trade Center rebuilding process, if elected governor, would be to contact the families of ground zero victims and discuss what they want as a memorial for the site, and then proceed with the appropriate plans.

Shorenstein said McCall feels the cost of rebuilding the World Trade Center would be jointly paid for by the federal government and the state of New York. She said the amount each will pay is negotiable and it is unclear exactly how much of the funding will be federal and how much would come from the state at this time.

Stonecash said McCall’s main problem in the race has been his focus on who had the best credentials for the job.

“He thought it was a credentials race. That’s not what this is about.” he said.

McCall does not know how to make an attack on an incumbent candidate and this has resulted in his large deficit in the polls, Stonecash said. Schlittner agreed and said McCall should have used negative advertising to illustrate the differences between the two campaigns.

“The high road in politics is great but in this day negative advertising is essential,” he said. ”Pataki has gotten a pass on a poor record.”

Although Schlittner found the campaign a disappointment and thought it could have been run differently, he will still vote for McCall and encourages everyone he knows to do the same.

“Mr. McCall is the best candidate,” Schlittner said. “It is a shame more people weren’t informed about how good a governor he would have been.”

Published on November 3, 2002 at 12:00 pm