Recchia Bails On Debate, Giving Grimm A Platform For Attack

Democrat Domenic Recchia missed last night’s debate in Bay Ridge, giving Republican Congressman Michael Grimm, whose seat he’s seeking, an opportunity to bash him relentlessly.

The Staten Island Advance reports:

“He will be lockstep with Mayor de Blasio and the president,” Grimm said. “He voted with Mayor de Blasio 99 percent [of the time] when they were in the City Council together. OK, so if you believe the Brooklyn Bridge should have an $8 toll, that’s what he voted for.”

The congressman had the stage all to himself Tuesday and looked to connect himself to President Ronald Reagan, while slamming Recchia for voting in favor of extending term limits in the Council.

“He doesn’t care what you think and he proved that when he voted to extend term limits,” Grimm said of Recchia. ” … the people voted on term limits twice but my opponent said, ‘No, I’m going to have a third term.'”

In an interview with the press after the debate, Grimm said Recchia wasn’t there because he wasn’t prepared to debate the congressman and doesn’t know the issues.

The Recchia campaign said he was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.

Between the attacks, Recchia did find the time to address some issues:

He blamed Obama for a lack of a foreign policy, saying it had led to ISIS being emboldened to attack the United States. He said there needs to be a strong coalition to battle ISIS, which he called “the most funded, most brutal group we’ve ever faced.”

Grimm supports closing the Mexican border, and said the Affordable Care Act had “destroyed everything that was good” about the American health care system.

Grimm said he supports hydrofracking — “when done safely and responsibly, it’s the safe thing to do.”

The debate was organized by the Bay Ridge Community Council. Read more at SILive.com.