New York politicians have rarely been accused of promoting a rational discussion of important issues and critical choices, and this year's candidates for the governorship haven't surprised anyone on that score. True to form, incumbent Gov. Hugh L. Carey and Republican challenger Perry B. Duryea, minority leader of the state assembly, have managed to reduce the decision on who is to run a state of 16 million people, whose cities tread regularly on the edge of bankruptcy and whose social service agencies are crumbling from dry rot and sheer neglect, into a banal game of phony partisan issues and political "Who Do You Trust?" Score two points for aggressive mediocrity.

The major conflicts of the campaign so far revolve around Carey's opposition to the death penalty and his acceptance of large campaign contributions from his brother Ed. The governor, in turn, has flailed away at Duryea--a millionaire lobsterman from conservative Eastern Long Island--for alleged sleight-of-hand in putting much of his fortune in his wife's name shortly before filing a campaign financial statement. The level of discourse, as shown in one of the candidates' recent debates, has sunk to about the third-grade range.

Carey: "The death penalty isn't the only issue in this campaign."

Duryea: "Yeah, maybe I'll be able to nail your brother, too."

Carey: "At least I don't hide behind my wife."

And so on. Maturity is apparently not considered much of a virtue in the Empire State.

Money is, however, and the man who has so much of it--Duryea--appears likely to come out on top tomorrow. Carey, who in four years has managed to help rescue New York City from bankruptcy, cut state taxes and eliminate the state's budget deficit, boasts a personality and political presence tolerated only by party insiders and religious martyrs, both of whom are used to suffering. Meanwhile, Duryea, one of the legislature's most deceptively conservative spokesmen, looks like a good bet: he leads most recent polls by about 2 per cent overall, but by 6 per cent among those likely to vote. Barring an unusually heavy turnout, Hugh Carey will be packing by the middle of this week.