 The race to replace Dianne Feinstein in California is well underway and they actually had their first debate last night And I watched it and I've got to say I am Profoundly disappointed and after looking at the polling my disappointment then turned into confusion And I say this because the people who performed the worst during this debate are actually polling the highest So the top two contenders are Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey according to this Emerson College poll released on January 18th And they both actually gained ground since the poll was last conducted in November And if the election were held today, they would both advance to the general whereas the two better candidates Katie Porter and Barbara Lee are Lacking behind both Schiff and Garvey now Schiff is a corporate Democrat Garvey is a Republican and the two progressives in this race are Katie Porter and Barbara Lee But if I lived in California, I would vote for Barbara Lee. It's an easy question Katie Porter might be an effective communicator with policies comparable to Lee overall But they differ in one really important policy area and that's Gaza Barbara Lee has been consistent while Katie Porter has been extremely wishy-washy on this subject Though both did have better responses than Schiff and Garvey, although for them the bar is really low But I do want to take a moment to look at how both Lee and Schiff responded to a question about Israel and Gaza Congress member Lee on October 8th less than 24 hours after that attack you called for an immediate ceasefire If that happens Now if there is an immediate ceasefire What's to stop Hamas from retaking control and launching another October 7th? Thank you very much for that question. Yes, I called for a ceasefire a permanent ceasefire Israel deserves to live in peace with security free from Hamas and all Terrorist attacks and I'm going to continue to condemn the horrific attacks of October 7th and work to make sure that whatever I can do to ensure that The administration as it continues this war in Gaza that is has killed now a 25,000 people That is counterproductive to Israel's security. The only way Israel is going to be secure is through a permanent ceasefire No country after having been attacked by terrorists like Israel was on October 7th No country could refuse to defend itself It has a duty to defend itself and I think the United States should support Israel in defending itself Let me let me just say first of all I've voted against the authorization to use military force right after the horrific attacks of 9-11 I voted against the Iraq authorization. I said then and I'm saying now it could spiral out of control. You see what's happening It's escalating in the region Barbara Lee was right then and she's right now and shift sounds exactly like the Republican on this issue, although he did sprinkle in some fain concern for Palestinians But made it clear he stands with Israel unequivocally as they continue to do a genocide in Gaza And I think that Barbara Lee probably could have done a better job at defending her position But the bottom line is that she's right on the policy substance and she has been consistent on this issue And she's been really good on foreign policy throughout her career. Now when it comes to Katie Porter, however She is trying to have it both ways She understands the popularity of this position among the Democratic Party's base and that position being to support a ceasefire But she doesn't want to support a ceasefire because she also supports Israel So watch how she tries to have it both ways and ride the fence here Congressmember Porter Some critics have said you've tried to have it both ways on this. You just heard two different world views laid out on this Where are you and which one do you agree with? Well? I joined millions of Americans Around the country in mourning what has happened the loss of Israeli lives and the loss of Palestinian lives And we need as the United States to be pushing for the conditions that can get us to a bilateral Durable peace. This is a very difficult situation and the conditions on the ground in Gaza have changed as the conflict has evolved And so I have called for a permanent ceasefire and I've pushed and identified with specificity what needs to happen to bring Gaza and to bring the people of Gaza to a better future and To make sure that Israel can stay secure so I have called for a release for all the hostages Resources to rebuild Gaza making sure Israel is secure and a free state for Palestinians where they can thrive So just to be clear. She's calling for a ceasefire right now You're saying we need to do all this other stuff first, right? The parties to this conflict are Israel and Hamas ceasefire is not a magic word You can't say it and make it so but we have to push as the United States as a world leader For us to get to a ceasefire and to avoid another forever war Mr.. Yeah, if you don't have a permanent ceasefire now More people are gonna get killed and there'll be less security That is even possible for the Israelis and for Israel in the future if we don't do this right now And that right there is the bottom line if you don't support a ceasefire right now The genocide will continue therefore you effectively support the continuation of the killing now Katie Porter is trying to placate supporters of a ceasefire by saying she supports a ceasefire But she implied she doesn't actually support a ceasefire right now instead. She supports specific conditions that will get us to a ceasefire Eventually, so in essence she doesn't support a ceasefire and she's fine with the violence continuing Unless specific criteria are met It is extremely disingenuous and for a politician who's usually very clear and concise in her language That right there is a major red flag to me Especially after she chomped it up with Netanyahu in 2023 after J Street sponsored a trip to Israel for her and 14 other Democrats Jewish insider explains not only was the prime minister Extremely generous both with his time and with his thoughts But the group was really able to have an interactive dialogue with him Porter said quote I was extremely impressed with his willingness to kind of grapple with us at some of the toughest issues that Israel's facing Everything from judicial reform i.e. This means a judicial coup that Netanyahu was trying to do and is still trying to do An issue that we're having questions and discussions about right now within the Democratic Party here in the United States To issues about the West Bank and about settlements But we emphasized and I think Netanyahu emphasized back that there's a long-term project here Which is to have a vibrant secure Jewish Democratic state of Israel and that in order to do that there needs to be Opportunities for the Palestinian people to have their own elected governments and governance and land Porter continued How we get there is unclear right now But we shouldn't let the impediments to that progress prompt us to give up on the goal given its incredible Importance to Israel and to the region and to the United States. I'm sorry, but how we get there is unclear Really Katie. This is a smart woman She knows that in order for a two-state solution to happen, which is what she says she supports the occupation has to end But she's not acknowledging that right? She's just signaling support for long-term peace but not pointing out the elephant in the room But she wasn't actually there to challenge Netanyahu. She was there to play teachers pet Jewish insider continues quote The pre-visit preparations paid off She recalled when the delegation which was sponsored by J Street met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem But it was actually funny and that there was a moment in that conversation with the Prime Minister where he was talking about Likud and LGBTQ members of Likud and he was saying I bet nobody knew that Porter explained referring to Netanyahu's political party Quote I raised my hand and I was like I knew I knew because I had gone that additional briefing before I went Yeah, it will never cease to amaze me how gullible some liberals are including really intelligent ones like Katie Porter The Likud party is a far-right fascist party But apparently all you have to do is slap a rainbow sticker on their logo and it's like a fucking invisibility cloak for fascists Hey, Katie if you really wanted to challenge Netanyahu, which she did not but if you did want to challenge him Did you ask him why same-sex couples in Israel aren't allowed to get married or were you too busy? It's just so insufferable and I can't take it and I don't trust Katie Porter on this issue more importantly, especially after John Fetterman I am no longer giving liberals the benefit of the doubt here when it comes to this issue And by the way while Katie Porter was peddling influence with Netanyahu Barbara Lee refused to go on that trip and actually denounced his Trumpian judicial coup attempt writing on Twitter at the time and Impartial independent judiciary is a vital cornerstone of democracy I strongly condemn Netanyahu's efforts to politicize Israel's Supreme Court and dramatically expand settlement activity and stand in solidarity With Israelis and Palestinians working for peaceful coexistence and as usual Barbara Lee is correct So if you care about Palestinian human rights, that is the candidate to support full stop But when you move on to other aspects of the debate to be fair to Katie Porter She did well arguably she outshined Barbara Lee in a number of areas specifically because I think she was more forceful in going after Adam Schiff and His corruption in particular for example take a look at how she calls out his ties to the fossil fuel industry I think this was actually really effective, but here's the thing others can talk about this I prosecuted oil companies I fought for mass transit and have known as the father of the gold line for my efforts to get mass transit built Some of us have a record of actually doing things and producing for California We do need to transition to renewable sources of energy if we're going to get ahead of this tipping point We need to dramatically invest in renewable energy and stop Incentivizing a fossil fuel industry that is killing us and killing the plan Representative Schiff may have prosecuted big oil companies before he came to Congress But when he got to Congress he cashed checks from companies like BP from fossil fuel companies I have delivered results on climate in my few years in Congress I have raised the rate my legislation to raise the rate on polluters when they drill in our public lands was signed into law Real quickly your chance to respond well first of all I gave that money to you Katie Porter And I was Response I got was thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But look at the end of the day It's about what have you gotten done now? That wasn't the only time She was forcefully calling out his corruption, which I think is really important And it's clear that Schiff is going to continue this legacy of Diane Feinstein who you might remember Basically told kids to go fuck themselves when they asked her to support a Green New Deal So Adam Schiff is saying look, I'm a progressive all of a sudden, but also I'm gonna continue Feinstein's legacy That's not good. No, thank you So it was important that Katie Porter went after him so directly and I wish that Barbara Lee did the same thing Because when you are trailing in this race, it's important to attack the person who's in first place now Adam Schiff is a corporate Democrat through and through and it is astonishing to me that Californians would support someone like him when they have an Opportunity to vote for an actual progressive Adam Schiff is vocalizing support for Medicare for all now But we all know he would never actually fight for it because he didn't when he was in office He was aligned with Nancy Pelosi who was against Medicare for all and I just wish that voters Would get better at distinguishing between actual progressives and phonies because if you look at public opinion polls They say they support Progressive policies, but then they keep voting for corporate Democrats So there's a disconnect here and if they truly support progressive policies, they need to address that But compared to Steve Garvey Adam Schiff looks amazing because Steve Garvey is surging Presumably because he's a former baseball star and I say this because he's not really running on any particular policy Aside from vaguely gesturing about cutting spending and his response to the unhoused crisis was so bizarre That all of the other candidates on the stage reacted because he tried to talk about how He went up to somebody who was unhoused and he was trying to make this seem like a humanizing moment and make it seem like It was compassionate, but it had the opposite effect. Just watch What was the last time any of you any of you went to the inner city? Actually walked up to the homeless as I have over these last three weeks I've gone to San Diego and Los Angeles and Sacramento and actually because this is part of you know, I'm not a politician But I needed to talk to the people that say I needed to talk to the homeless went up to them and Touched them and listen to him and you want they looked at me and they said you're the first time anybody's come up And they asked us about our life the homeless man who spent five years on the street in Sacramento They don't get it When I go back to the Senate a year from now when I'm your next elected u.s. Senator from California The first thing I'll do is an audit where I have the 30 billion dollars the federal government has spent Somebody who's been unsheltered. I cannot believe how he described his walk and touching and being there I Sorry, that was a total swing and a miss. That was a total whiff of an answer And I say that it you know credit where credit is due you are a hell of a ball player That was so weird. That was insane. I touched an icky homeless person. Aren't I humane? Did you do that? Can you say the same? Did you touch a homeless person? Have any of you been willing to a risk getting cooties from them to touch them? I mean this is very clearly a clueless rich dude who's running for the Senate because he's bored But he has no core beliefs. In fact, he wouldn't even say whether or not he would vote for Donald Trump again He's saying he'll make that decision later on whether or not he'll vote for Biden or Trump after he already voted for Trump twice it's just so bizarre he's not that bright to be Frank and He's gonna advance to the general probably with Adam Schiff if nothing changes So you kind of get why I feel frustrated here But another reason why this debate was just profoundly disappointed to me was because the moderators were absolutely god awful Almost every single question was framed from the right wing perspective in a blue state mind you and they literally Only gave the candidates 30 seconds to answer each question So they ask this really big question that requires a broad robust response and then cut them off Then complain that they're going over time constantly I'm sorry, but how are you supposed to get the point across about any policy in 30 fucking seconds? I get that the goal was to cover a wide range of topics But I'd much prefer less subjects and more time to answer those questions because you you can't actually Gauge how thoughtful these candidates are on certain policies if they have 30 seconds It's genuinely insane, but I mean either way This debate and really the senate race in general makes me feel really frustrated with our political system Because if democratic party voters consistently again express that they want progressive policies Why do they keep continually supporting centrist politicians like adam schiff who isn't a progressive and he's made that pretty clear throughout his career But I mean when they do Support progressives like john fetterman, for example, they end up being cheerleaders for genocide who suddenly oppose immigration I mean it just feels like our system is fundamentally incapable of producing good results regardless of what we do So I don't know anymore, but at the end of the day it comes down to voters And if you really do want progressive policies liberals Stop choosing corporate democrats like adam schiff over progressive democrats like barbara lee Otherwise don't complain when nothing changes and i'm assuming they're gonna vote for adam schiff and steve garvey They're both gonna advance and adam schiff is gonna win But I mean This is a deep blue state. So if you keep voting for corporatism Don't be shocked when you get more corporatism regardless if there's a d or an r in front of the name of the candidate who you're choosing