California Democrats Seek Election-year Momentum
Democrats at the state partys annual convention had a brash message at a time when polls show President Barack Obamas popularity slipping and party candidates in tight races across the country: Bring it on.
“Democrats are for protecting the peoples interest; Republicans are protecting the special interests. Democrats are protecting consumers and small businesses on Main Street; Republicans are protecting big banks on Wall Street,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told nearly 2,000 cheering delegates inside the Los Angeles Convention Center.
“That is our fight,” Pelosi said.
With her re-election in doubt, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., urged Democrats to unite behind her candidacy with the excitement witnessed at tea party rallies around the nation.
“We passed health care reform and we should be proud of it, proud of it,” Boxer told supporters waving yellow “Boxer 2010″ signs. “I need you to be excited, as excited as the tea party people are. Will you help me?”
Attorney General Jerry Brown, outgunned in the gubernatorial race by the personal wealth of Republicans Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, drew the loudest reaction from the delegates when he criticized them for waging a high-dollar campaign over the airwaves.
Instead of an advertising spending extravaganza, Brown said voters want to hear from the candidates directly about issues related to jobs, repairing the states perpetual budget deficit and cuts to public school and universities.
He called for a series of “honest, prime-time” three-way debates before the June 8 primary.
“Lets hear the different ideas,” Brown said. “The key here, is this a democracy?”
The offer was intended in part to answer criticism that Brown has so far been a sluggish campaigner.
If the debates happen, theyll be a two-man affair. Poizner, the states insurance commissioner who is trailing Whitman in polls, was quick to accept the invitation. But Whitmans campaign rejected the proposal after initially saying it was open to considering it.
Instead, her campaign said Brown should debate other Democrats who will appear on the June ballot.
Whitman, a former eBay chief executive, has poured $59 million from her personal fortune into a campaign that could become the most expensive gubernatorial race in U.S. history. Much of the money has been used to blanket the airwaves with television and radio ads and pay for a stable of experienced political consultants.
Whitman and Poizner, a wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur, have debated previously, but it would be highly unusual to conduct a bipartisan debate before winners are selected in the primary.
With California mired in recession and facing record unemployment, Brown said all three leading candidates owe it to voters to stake out their positions and debate in public.
“These are not ordinary times,” he said. “We face an extraordinary crisis.”
Surveys show Brown and Boxer, who is seeking a fourth term, running about even with potential Republican challengers.