Posted on 09/25/2003 9:30:09 AM PDT by Quilla
A YEAR AGO, Stan Statham was California's answer to the Maytag repairman. As president of the California Broadcasters Association, he sat by in frustration while his planned gubernatorial debate in Sacramento failed to materialize (Governor Gray Davis, ahead in the polls, didn't want to risk a direct encounter with the Republican challenger, Bill Simon).
Last night, as he moderated CBA's recall debate--five candidates, gathered on the CSU-Sacramento campus--Statham went from the outhouse to the political penthouse. About 500 journalists asked for working credentials; 200-or-so actually attended (many of them found out the hard way that their cell phones were inoperable and there were no available phone jacks or power outlets inside the campus auditorium). In San Francisco alone, the debate ran live and uninterrupted for 90 minutes on all four local news stations. In Los Angeles, the 6:00 p.m. broadcast also ran on four local stations, not to mention C-SPAN 2, Telemundo, and three national cable news networks. Normally, the earth has to quake for that kind of live interest from West Coast media.
No one's going to confuse the five performers on the Sacramento stage with Frank Sinatra's "rat pack" (except for possibly Green party chairman Peter Camejo, who, like Peter Lawford, came across as a poser). Still, the debate did have the feel of a Vegas lounge act--complete with a little comedy and a lot of heckling, and plenty of entertainment value.
Some observations on the participants, in alphabetic order:
Cruz Bustamante. It was not a good night for the Democratic lieutenant governor. He sat at the far right of the debate panel (someone has a sense of humor), next to Arianna Huffington. The taller Huffington sat at least a head higher that the diminutive lieutenant governor, and at times she simply drowned him out. To his credit, Bustamante did jump at the chance to answer the impromptu question about how much the state should spend on the children of illegal aliens, cleverly confusing legal and illegal immigration and making the plight of Hispanic farm workers sound like a 21st Century version of the Joads. That plays well with his liberal base. And he scored points by noting that he had advocated a middle-class tax cut when he was an assemblyman and authored a measure providing new textbooks in California classrooms.
However, Bustamante had two objectives: (1) separate his views from those of his Republican rivals, which he did; and (2) establish himself as a credible alternative to Gray Davis. He clearly failed on the latter. The lieutenant governor was neither dynamic nor compelling, and that might give Democrats second thoughts on voting yes on recall.
Peter Camejo. Each time the state's Green party chairman spoke, voters heard the voice of another Californian who recently sought high office--Admiral James Stockdale. ("Who am I? Why am I here?") Camejo railed against the presidential debates for inviting only two candidates. (His performance--he's at a mere 2 percent in the polls--answered his own question.) Camejo did talk about an audit to examine the budget deficit, and making California a leader in renewable energy. He also drifted into left-field semantics when trying to explain why "illegal" immigration is not necessarily a felonious act.
But as one might expect of a fringe candidate (CBA originally was going to invite only candidates with double-digit support, then eased that criteria), Camejo spent too much time obsessing over national politics. In his closing statement, he ranted and raved about civil liberties. If he wants to be a serious gubernatorial candidate, Camejo should talk about the excesses of John Burton, the ultra-liberal leader of the state senate, not John Ashcroft.
Arianna Huffington. Where to start, except to say that Arianna was invited to a debate and did her best to turn it into vaudeville. She said she'd close corporate tax loopholes (juicing $2 billion in revenue, she claims). And, smart debater that she is, she took full advantage of openings Schwarzenegger left her regarding health care for the children of illegal immigrants and the slow implementation of his Proposition 49.
For the most part, Huffington spent the evening in attack mode. She wore a shirt whose neckline had a deeper plunge than Gray Davis's favorable numbers; her behavior went even lower. Frat boys who chugged every time she mentioned the evil "Boooosh Admeeneestration" passed out around the 30-minute mark. At one point, frustrated because she couldn't silence Schwarzenegger, Huffington drew groans from the audience by saying, "Stop interrupting. Let me finish. This is what you do to women, we know that." The Huffington recall candidacy is probably her next book topic--don't look for Arnold, her Brentwood neighbor, to be the first in line to buy it.
Tom McClintock. If debates are about clear and concise answers, then the conservative state senator was the night's winner. McClintock was detailed--although a tad Pollyannaish--when describing how he'd cut state spending ($9 billion by getting "the best service at lowest price," $6 billion by reorganizing bureaucracy, $2.5 billion by reforming workers' comp). And he showed a command of state policy--at one point, correcting Arnold for confusing California's "Three Strikes" law with a different law.
Unfortunately for McClintock, he saved his best moment for last. In his closing statement he neatly outlined how he differs from other recall candidates (he's the only one to take the tax pledge, oppose abortion, and support the Second Amendment). "I steer a straight course and I stay that course," he said. Armchair quarterbacks will want to know why McClintock didn't spend more of his time trying to draw Schwarzenegger into a one-on-one discussion of taxation and social programs instead of playing the Sacramento insider's game and railing against former governor Pete Wilson and his policy team.
Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Terminator got the first question and the first lucky break in the debate: Name California's top priority. (Fixing the economy, duh.) Twenty minutes in, he fired off the evening's first zinger, mocking Huffington for a double standard on write-offs: "Your personal income is the biggest loophole; I can drive my Hummer through it." The problem was, Arnold couldn't resist taking Huffington's bait--she'd jab, he'd slug right back. "If you want to campaign against Bush, go to New Hampshire," he told her. And, after her misogyny crack: "I just realized that I have a perfect part for you in Terminator 4." Good for laughs? Yes. Good for his image? Debatable.
That's not to say that it was a wasted evening for Arnold. All he had to do was avoid a major gaffe and he'd receive a passing grade from the media. And he didn't stumble--though he came close to the danger zone once, when he connected illegal immigration to the state's Healthy Families program for lower-income families. Schwarzenegger continued the anti-incumbent argument he began earlier this week, lambasting his opponents for accepting special-interest money. And he invoked the memory of Hiram Johnson, California's legendary progressive governor, to suggest that recall is an honorable deed. Arnold closed the debate with a touch of humility: "This [election] is a little bit bigger than I am. I need your help."
A big election, indeed. But it remains to be seen if anyone made a big impression last night.
Maybe AS knew what he was doing afterall by refusing all other debates and referring to this one as the "superbowl of debates." It not only went national, it was international. I'm sure there wouldn't have been that much interest had AS participated in every other debate. Either very clever planning or a heck of a lucky break.
No kidding! I just read the first 1650 posts that brought me to the end of the actual debate. It only took 3 hours with a few interuptions from pesky customers. ;-)
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