Cuomo must debate the Republican Enemy after the week of insults with chicken and chicken

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and his Republican opponent, Marcus J. Molinaro, agreed to a televised debate Tuesday after more than a week of bickering, dodging and blaming on who was more afraid of facing each other.

The debate would be Mr. Cuomo's first face-to-face meeting with his opponent in the general election for the governorship; In previous years, he has participated in large-scale debates with his Republican challenger as well as other minor party candidates.

Molinaro, the executive of Dutchess County, had spent days braving and bawling Mr. Cuomo, leading to double-digit polls, for being too arrogant to debate it. On Friday morning, after two consecutive days of the New York Post describing the governor in chicken costume on the front page, Mr. Cuomo suddenly accepted a debate – at 8 am on Saturday, on the radio, with less than 24 hours of delay.

Mr. Molinaro rejected this proposal, calling for more notice for voters and a televised meeting. A weekend of rhetoric missiles ensued, accompanied by an open letter from Mr. Molinaro and Twitter messages from employees of both campaigns. Finally, on Sunday, Mr. Cuomo proposed a televised debate for Tuesday. Mr. Molinaro accepted this invitation on Monday morning.

"New York voters won a major victory last night," Molinaro said at a news conference.

He also called on the governor to accept two more debates in the north of the state, citing what he called the negligence of voters outside the city.

Mr. Cuomo's team had spent the previous days harassing Mr. Molinaro for not accepting their initial offers, whether it was the Saturday morning radio debate or a later offer for a morning radio debate. weekdays, which would also be broadcast on Facebook.

"We are happy that Marc Molinaro has finally accepted," said Cuomo campaign spokesman Dani Lever on Monday. "See you tomorrow."

Cuomo is 23 points ahead in the latest public poll and is expected to win a third term. Nearly 50% of voters said that they had not heard enough from Mr. Molinaro to form an opinion.

"It's a great opportunity for me to introduce myself" to voters, said Molinaro on Monday. "This is also an opportunity to hold the governor to account, and I will take advantage of both opportunities."

The debate should take place on Tuesday afternoon, then be broadcast at 19 hours. on TV and radio by WCBS. Marcia Kramer of WCBS and Rich Lamb of the radio-affiliated radio station will be the moderators.