What matters to me today is Golden State Dysfunction Taking Center Stage.
Last night’s debate of California’s gubernatorial candidates was a nationwide embarrassment of chaotic interruptions and personal attacks among political peers and opponents alike. The most notable absence from the stage? A coherent plan for the Golden State.
On the Democrat side, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan floated CEQA reform and suspension of the gas tax, two Democratic sacred cows, while former California Attorney General and Obama Cabinet Secretary Xavier Becerra leaned heavily on past experience and criticism of the current presidential administration. (Becerra is, for now, the undisputed beneficiary of Eric Swalwell’s implosion.)
Katie Porter and billionaire Tom Steyer both voiced support for a “billionaires’ tax,” yet neither they, nor any other candidates—or the moderators—dared broach the looming state budget deficit, potentially exceeding $20 billion.
Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco seized on Democratic infighting, lambasting nearly two decades of single-party, super-majority control as a root cause of California’s challenges and asserting it is insane for California voters to yet again look to single-party rule for solutions.
In a post-debate roundtable, a prominent prior Democrat official asserted outright that Becerra is either unwilling or unable to effectively take on the Trump Administration, suggesting a widely held though as-yet rarely spoken view of Democratic leaders.
The overriding takeaway: none of the candidates of either party, in my opinion, offered an action plan for California’s future worthy of earning an undecided vote. Woe to California…
That’s what matters to me today in 250 words or less. What matters to you? I’d really like to know.