Sundwall to Join NY-20 "Round Table," Turn It Into a Debate

Scott Murphy and Jim Tedisco, respectively the Democratic and Republican contenders for Kirsten Gillibrand's vacant House seat in a race to be decided March 31, have had a few debates already. There's another one scheduled for tomorrow on WMHT-TV, but Tedisco has declined to appear. Organizers were going to turn it into a "round table" with Murphy, but now it looks like he'll have company: Libertarian candidate Eric Sundwall has been approved to participate -- though he hasn't yet been approved for the ballot. Tedisco says he's still not coming; Murphy has not announced any change in plans. This stands to benefit Tedisco, as Sundwall, as the anti-big-gummint candidate, will no doubt pepper Murphy on big-gummint programs such as the stimulus, which has lately been slammed by Tedisco, who had previously been less inclined to address it. So Sundwall may serve as Tedisco's anti-statist proxy without any risk of embarrassment to the Republican candidate. Of course, there's always a chance the district will fall in love with Sundwall and his policies ("We must seek a thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal Reserve System") and elect him in an upset victory.