The ten leading GOP presidential candidates squared off Wednesday for their third debate of the campaign. While nearly all pundits predicted that former frontrunner Donald Trump would unleash fireworks on Dr. Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon who has topped The Donald in recent polls, the action came mainly from the middle tier. Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times:
“The event Wednesday night suggested that, even as the Democratic contest is narrowing, the race for the Republican nomination remains wide open, with months to go before the first states to vote -- Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina -- finally force some consolidation onto a field that still includes more than a dozen candidates.
“Prognosticators had predicted a fight between Donald Trump and the man who only recently leapfrogged him in national and Iowa polls -- retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. But those two were bit players for most of the evening. Oddly, perhaps, neither Trump’s business background -- nor the CEO experience of Carly Fiorina -- let them dominate a debate focused sharply on the economy and budgetary matters.
“Instead, it was those in the middle of the pack who appeared to have benefited from the two hours of verbal sparring, specifically Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.”
Josh Richman visited Democratic debate-watching parties in the Bay Area, finding most viewers amused by the chaotic field even as they identified which candidates had the best chances in the general election. From the San Jose Mercury News:
“Jon Ball, an economics major and vice president of the club, said he thought the debate was ‘disorganized and uninspiring’ as the candidates failed to address economic inequality, college affordability and other key issues. But the 21-year-old Ball, who is from Chicago, said he believes Rubio would be the strongest against a Democratic nominee, given that he's young, Latino and ‘he has some ideas, even if I disagree with them.’
“Rubio also seemed most formidable to Vincente Lovelace, 18, a Latin American studies and politics major from Santa Clara. ‘He was presidential and spoke on all the issues that were important to him. ... He's coherent, he's eloquent,’ Lovelace said, adding that if Rubio winds up winning the GOP nomination, ‘I would certainly be worried that Hillary Clinton would have her work cut out for her.’"
Meanwhile, in Sacramento, the 2016 Mayor’s race just got a lot more interesting as former Senate pro tem Darrell Steinberg confirmed Wednesday that he was throwing his hat in the ring. John Myers at the Los Angeles Times:
“’Let us seize the moment,’ Steinberg said in a campaign kickoff event Wednesday. ‘Let’s get going for Sacramento….’
“The 56-year-old Democrat also has more than $1.4 million in an account earmarked for a potential 2018 run for lieutenant governor, though he can only use the portion of that money that matches the city's lower contribution limits.”
Steinberg’s entry into the race closely follows current mayor Kevin Johnson’s surprise announcement that he would not seek a third term. Johnson’s decision came amid renewed scrutiny of twenty year old claims that he molested a teenage girl while he was with the Phoenix Suns. Christine Pelosi, the chair of the California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus told Politico’s Carla Marinucci that she’s glad Johnson opted not to run again.
“’I do believe the victim,’ said Pelosi, a former assistant district attorney who prosecuted child abuse and sexual assault cases, referring to ‘very serious allegations ... of being victimized by a powerful man…’
“’It’s a very sad set of circumstances, and the women in my caucus have contacted me with concerns,’ Pelosi said. ‘We’re glad he’s not running again. The decision is the right one for his family and for Sacramento.’”
Sad to say that Sacramento’s capitol press corp has lost another one – Timm Herdt, reporter and longtime columnist for the Ventura County Star is laying down his pen.
“Since I was a boy, waiting on summer afternoons for a thud in the driveway that signaled the arrival of the previous evening’s box scores, I have cherished newspapers. For the last 38 years, I have cherished this one in particular.
“It was the summer of 1977 when, still living in Ohio, I accepted over the phone an offer of a sports department internship at the Star-Free Press at a pay rate of $120 per week.
“I have held down many jobs at the newspaper since, but the one that has been most enduring and has most satisfied my soul has been to write this column, which has been published here nearly every Wednesday for 31 years.
“This will be the last….”
