Candidates in the race to become California’s next governor will gather on stage Tuesday night for the second of three scheduled debates ahead of the June 2 primary.
Last week’s rally in San Francisco didn’t provide the fireworks or memorable moments that the candidates, and many voters, were expecting – but it did manage to remind us all that ballots will be hitting mailboxes in the coming days and decisions must be made.
Before the Pomona College stadium in Claremont, our team of three Times writers — Gustavo Arellano, Mark Z. Barabak and Anita Chabria — weighed in with a cheat sheet of what to look for, what to expect and why it matters.
Chabria: I’ll start with the obvious – let’s hope Tuesday gives us at least one front-runner who brings fire and vision.
After last week’s debate, there were a lot of social media posts about who won and who scored well. But as one of the six people who actually watched, I can tell you that it was a lot of fun with no clear winner.
That’s because most Democrats have only daylight between their policies, and so do two Republicans.
So my hope is that at least one candidate will step up their game and come to the voters with not just an attack, but something that inspires, something that separates them. As I enter the race, that hope is slim, but I keep it alive.
What are your hopes and dreams – and maybe fears – going into this?
Barabak: I know I sound like a broken record. (Google it, kids.) Anita, you and I, in particular, have been around this one. But I don’t see any need to be encouraged by boys and professionals who are running for governorship. When I’m looking for inspiration, I’ll go back and re-read “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Or listen to a Grateful Dead show from May of ’77.
Give me someone who can work with the Legislature, and how hard it is, President Trump, to get things done.
Pursue a “California First” agenda, to borrow a phrase. Put voters and their interests ahead of self-esteem, career pursuits and personal ambition. Start by promising, if elected, to serve a full four-year term and not run for president as long as he serves as governor.
Yes, that promise can be broken. (See then-Gov. Pete Wilson, who made that pledge while seeking re-election in 1994, then turned around and — unsuccessfully — ran for the White House in 1995.)
At least we would have them on record.
Arellano: I like all this democratic behavior. A small part of me wants two Republicans to run for the general election because the California Democratic Party deserves a meteor-like extinction event. There hasn’t been a GOP statewide elected official since Schwarzenegger. Supermajority in Sacramento for most of the decade.
And what do they have to show for their one-party rule? This.
But then I hear Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton hustling, and suddenly I’m hoping alongside Anita that someone will win over their enemies with an irresistible idea. The problem is, I think all the candidates have reached their ceiling. The only one with a chance to show us something new is Xavier Becerra, who needs to drop his Dudley Do-Right shtick for a second and channel the inner cholo we all know is in him.
Instead, he was at a fundraiser in Fullerton over the weekend with professional Latinos – he should have been kicking it with my cousins in Anaheim who were watching their Dodgers kill the Cubs, placebecause they are the ones who will make or break it.
Chabria: How the first Latino governor failed to please Latino voters is exactly what I’m talking about. If you don’t give the voters something to make them happy, the voters, and our fragile democracy needs every voter it can get.
But if we are forced to vote for nuance, let’s do it with knowledge. Here are some questions that I hope these candidates should answer:
For San José Mayor Matt Mahan, who is funded by billions by his tech brethren, it’s not enough to promise to control artificial intelligence, or the influence of billions, for that matter. Tell us what those regulations look like and tell us how you align your own politics with those big donors like Joe Lonsdale, founder of Palantir, who called Gen Z “the lost generation.”
To billionaire investor Tom Steyer, who has said he will amend Proposition 13 (which cuts property taxes) for corporate landlords: What guarantees do landlords have that they won’t follow suit?
For former Rep. Katie Porter, polling third among Democrats, the clock is ticking — is there a point where you’re going to give up and let a candidate run if you can’t? The likes of public schools superintendent Tony Thurmond and former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, were included in the debate but voted in single digits.
And I agree with you, Gustavo, Becerra seems pretty quiet, but to Mark’s point, he’s using that to position himself as someone who lacks game and knowledge. So in an age where fraud and abuse are the buzzwords of the day, how does Becerra explain his office’s lack of fraud?
Mark and Gustavo, what topics do you hope the candidates will discuss?
Arellano: A slight correction, Anita — California already has a Latino governor: Romualdo Pacheco, the lieutenant governor who succeeded Newton Booth in 1875 when the latter became a US Senator. Pacheco – Latino Republican! – served all 10 months before becoming a member of Congress.
See, Californians? Political musical chairs are as much a part of our country as free-spending oligarchs – but enough about Steyer.
Problems? Immigration, of course. I want each person to speak to undocumented immigrants for 90 seconds on any topic of their choice. Waters: Believe it in climate change or not, but our supply is dwindling faster than Thurmond’s gubernatorial chances. And as I believe the more random the question, the more you learn about who the candidate really is: What is the best song about California, and why? Anyone who says “California Girls” or “California Gurls” deserves to be fired, even if both songs rock.
Barabak: It’s not a problem. What I would like to see is a smaller spine.
The next governor will have to make tough decisions, especially regarding spending priorities and/or cutting the government budget. Inevitably, the next ruler will make some people unhappy. And I’m not talking about those members of the opposite party, or the people who didn’t vote for them.
Therefore, I would like each of them to state a case where, for the good of the country, they are willing to face their friends and allies, knowing that they will not be happy. If you’re a Democrat, say something you can do, say, you support organized labor. And for the Republicans Bianco and Hilton, what place are you willing to say to Trump, “Sir” – the president thinks that everyone bowed and called him sir – “he is dead wrong about this and California needs to go its way, like it or not.”
Arellano: I wish you luck to see any candidate beat their masters. I think we need to lower our expectations in a way, way, well, lower it. So a simple question to conclude with: Who should do more tonight besides Mahan’s beard? I think it’s Orange Countian, Katie Porter. Now he is to the right of Steyer and to the left of Becerra, which means he needs to fire both of their supporters and he can decide if he wants to move forward. I don’t know how he can do that – but if anyone can bring the necessary fire, it’s him.
Chabria: Porter definitely has a lot on the line.
One bright moment for him, Steyer or Becerra – good or bad – could shake up this undecided race – not so much because people will be watching, but because it will fuel social media and the publicity that will follow. The next two debates are high, not just to avoid Biden’s performance, but to do something, anything, that ignites momentum.
Politics is not a bean bag as the old saying goes, it’s time to bring the heat. So in the spirit of Gustavo’s song request, I’ll leave it with these words from the Rivieras (or the Ramones, if you prefer): We’re out there having fun, in the warm California sun.
Barabak: Not to be poor people at the party but I think we shouldn’t go too far in this debate tonight. First, as Anita suggested, the audience will be very small – small, even, compared to the state’s 23 million registered voters.
We know, from experience, that most people will remove what they do based on the conversation itself but rather its broadcast and any soundbites, memes, chatter and advertising it produces – and that’s only the extent to which people pay attention.
So, yes, what is said and done in Pomona, will matter. But we’re five weeks away from election day, and I suspect most people will wait at least another week or three to start focusing on the race and finally decide.
I’ll end with something Jerry Garcia sang: All good things at a good time.
