DEMOCRATS ARE ALSO DEBATING: Berman and Sherman in California
Posted: Friday, January 13, 2012
by Nestor Fantini
www.la-luciernaga.com
Although most of the attention had been focused on the Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Democrats all over the country are also politically quite active.
Take California, where the first debate between U.S. Representatives Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, two giants of local politics, took place on January 5th, in Woodland Hills, a Los Angeles suburb.
Knowing that in the new 30th congressional district, overwhelmingly populated by Democrats, his true rival is the other Democrat and not the Republican candidate, Brad Sherman came out swinging against Berman right from the beginning.
“What’s important it’s not only to be a leader, but to also lead in the right direction,” said Sherman, reminding about 300 people that attended the debate that, contrary to Berman, he had been an early critic of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that provided a bailout to financial institutions, and had opposed trade agreements such as NAFTA that led to the loss of jobs that are now in China and other parts of the world.
When he mentioned that Berman had played a key role in authorizing military actions in Iraq, the audience exploded in disapproval.
The 70-year old Berman, cofounder of the powerful “Waxman-Berman machine” that for decades dominated politics in parts of Los Angeles, emphasized the importance of experience and the ability to deliver.
“If you want to elect the most effective person, I’m that person,” said Berman, who has been in the U.S. Congress since 1983, and is the highest ranking Democrat in the Foreign Affairs committee of the House of Representatives.
Berman recalled the local projects that he helped developed in the region, including funds to expand sections of the 405 Freeway, to avoid the closure of a Kaiser Hospital, and to increase the number of Los Angeles police officers.
When the discussion moved to the economy, Berman said that the country needs a new stimulus package to revitalize the national economy. Sherman added that “the best stimulus is to extend the payroll tax cut until at least the end of the year.”
Both Republicans completely opposed this idea.
“Real economic growth will begin when the federal government gets the heck out of the way,” Reed said.
The environment and the new national health care law were also issues that helped to highlight differences between Democrats from Republicans. While Reed and Shelley characterized the Environmental Protection Agency as an obstacle to free economic development and the health care law as an anti constitutional mandate, Berman and Sherman took the opposite view. Sherman reminded that his voting record got a 100% score from the Sierra Club, and that the health care legislation is a “necessary law” to avoid having more people without health care insurance.
A different discourse also emerged when they were asked if they would support a bill requiring that voters present IDs. Reed expressed support for the proposal citing a Georgia law, and Shelley said that it was necessary to deal with electoral fraud.
On the other hand, everybody agreed that Iran’s nuclear threat should be neutralized. While they supported a preemptive strike by Israel, a very hawkish Reed went further and suggested that the United States should unilaterally destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.
According to the latest finance reports, Brad Sherman’s campaign has raised $3.7 million and Howard Berman $1.5 million. This is only the beginning. Political analysts estimate that this might end up being the most expensive congressional race in the country. It could surpass the $12 million mark
Sherman’s strategy has been to seek support at the local level. Thus, he has gained the endorsement of more than 350 community and business leaders. But except for Bill Clinton, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and Sheriff Lee Baca, most of the Democratic political establishment seems behind Berman.
Three “Super PACs”, legally able to raise unlimited funds, have already been created to support Berman’s campaign. That explains why, throughout the debate, Sherman repeatedly called on Berman, who in the past had expressed opposition to Super PACs, to sign a pledge against them. To make his point, Sherman theatrically raised a gigantic poster board with the pledge. Berman, who will now benefit from them, did not show any indication that he was ready to sign anything and, at some point, compared Sherman’s action to a Hollywood stunt.
“With Howard Berman you get a Congressman that gives stature to the San Fernando Valley,” said Rosalba Gonzalez, from Canoga Park, at the end of the debate. “His experience in Congress has helped us very much. If you choose the wrong person, the San Fernando Valley is going to be affected”.
But not everybody agreed. Jorge Avila, from Reseda, was disappointed that the candidates almost did not mention anything about foreclosures and unemployment. Still, he felt that he had a candidate that he could support. “If I had to vote, I’ll probably go for Sherman,” he said. “He had more energy. He knew what he was talking about.”
An earlier version of this article was published in American Online, on January 6, 2012.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)I'm not an American but if I was I'd be a Democrat. I've seen a lot of media coverage of Republicans but nothing on Democrats over the past months and am really sick of it. Your article was very interesting and gave me some relief! Thanks.
I agree with Jennifer. It is a relief to hear about a debate where this kind of lively conversation about real issues is taking place.
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