By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — For the third time in less than 48 hours, the Democratic candidates for State Attorney General took to the stage to make their cases to voters.
This time, the race's financial front-runner, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, showed up for the festivities. Rice skipped yesterday's events because of scheduling conflicts, forcing her opponents to debate her empty chair.
The debate was very tame, with the the five candidates — including Rice, State Sen. Eric Schneiderman, former federal prosecutor Sean Coffey, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and former state insurance superintendent Eric Dinallo — disagreeing on only a few points, including a pledge not to eventually seek the office of governor.
Unlike the other four candidates, Rice refused to take the pledge.
"I think that these kinds of pledges are all show. It is ridiculous to say to someone, 'make a pledge now' before you've even done the job you’re running for," she said.
As expected, most of the Citizens Union-sponsored event focused on the candidates' reform agendas, with strong support from all for legalizing gay marriage, bipartisan redistricting and full public financing of campaigns.
The candidates also pushed for the passage of a bill that would give the attorney general's office the ability to independently launch investigations into political corruption, which the office currently lacks.
Despite provocation from a panel of questioners seeking to liven things up, the candidates generally failed to take the bait.
While all candidates generally attacked Albany's dysfunction, they heaped praise on AG Andrew Cuomo and the way he's handled the investigation of Gov. David Paterson's role in a domestic violence dispute involving his top aide — despite the fact that little information has been released to the public in recent month.
"Investigations sometimes take a very long time," said Schneiderman, who likened the incident to the lengthy investigation of State Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who was convicted of misdemeanor assault last year after slashing his girlfriend’s face with a piece of glass.
Even disgraced former state AG and ex-Gov.Eliot Spitzer was complimented for his willingness to hire staffers he'd never worked with before.
The only somewhat critical talk of an elected official came during discussion of Cuomo's "Reform Pledge,” a one-page pledge to reform Albany the AG authored and has encouraged other Democratic office-seekers to sign.
Coffee and Rice signed the pledge, while the other three candidates have declined, arguing that it seemed like a loyalty oath that would hamper the office's independence.
"That is a sign of fealty," Richard Brodsky said.
