Posted 8:20 PM by Blah blah

California Recall. The TV Debate. (Politics)

I finally watched the California governor's TV debate over the Internet. You may see the full 90-minute debate in streaming video on C-SPAN.

This is what I wrote to the California Broadcasters Association afterwards:

"Hi, I just saw the CA Recall Debate on C-SPAN. I was disappointed by the format and thought it promoted lots of rude personal attacks and lack of civilized behavior.

I wish you would keep a more traditional debate format next time, with designated statements and rebuttals from everyone. I wish the moderator would be more forceful in preventing personal attacks, which only made people lose respect for the candidates who engaged in them, as well as for California's government.

Please throw away this free-for-all format. It did not work!

Besides that, I thought Republican Senator Tom McClintock conducted himself the best in this debate, though I disagree with his views.

I will vote against the recall and support Gray Davis."

Although I'm a centrist Democrat, I actually liked the behavior and style of Republican Tom McClintock the best! He was sincere, forceful, and yet humble when he spoke. He showed respect for all the other candidates and didn't get caught up in shouting matches. He was well-informed and thoughtful. Personally I liked him the best.

However, I disagreed with most---not all---of his political views. But I could see myself working smoothly with him to solve California's problems. He's someone I'd like to work with and off of whom I'd like to respectfully bounce ideas for improving our state.

It's too bad the Calif. Republican leadership, trying to go with the popular flow instead of picking the most qualified candidate, are backing Arnold Schwarzenegger instead and keep urging McClintock to drop out.

Arnold (Republican): I liked him as a person. He still acted more like a guest on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect than a knowledgeable future governor. He seemed sincere about his passion for the causes in which he believed. He was NOT robotic and didn't seem like a scripted dummy. I didn't feel like his quip to Arianna, that he "had the perfect part for her in Terminator 4," was malicious. I felt he was just trying to lighten the hostile atmosphere she exuded. Despite his passion for the few issues on which he had studied, I felt he lacked depth of understanding.

Peter Camejo (Green Party): I admired his earnestness about his causes, though I feel he's a bit too liberal for me. I liked his frankness in speaking the harsh truth, in his eyes. He seemed like the cranky old man you tend to have at town hall meetings, saying the complaints that should be said but others are afraid to. However, I find he lacks charm. Bottom line: I agree somewhat with his views but find him too liberal.

Tom McClintock (Republican): covered above.

Arianna Huffington (Independent): where do I start with this woman? Most of anyone there, she brought an arrogant, nasty tone to the debate which I really disliked. I think she turned off most of her audience with her repeated interruptions of the other candidates, angry personal attacks on Arnold, and inability to listen to others or follow the moderator's instructions. Yes, she's very smart, articulate, fiery, and great with the sharp retorts. In other words, she's perfect for that political circus TV show The McLaughlin Group.

However, she's not fit for working together with others in a civilized way to make policy. She's too iconoclastic and speaks likes the columnist she is, instead of like the uniting politician who needs to be humble and bring opposing sides together. To put her in office would only spark more bitterness and government gridlock. I don't even remember most of her political views, since she was so busy attacking her fellow candidates and showing her poor listening skills.

Cruz Bustamante (Democrat): I was most disappointed by Bustamante, especially during the later part of the debate. As a Democrat, I wanted to like him, but he didn't inspire me at all. For the first part of the debate, he was trying to take the high road and speak in a quiet, civilized, confident way. I liked his behavior in the first part, which showed his knowledge and experience with the real legislative issues.

However, he acted condescending in the second part, telling Arnold and Arianna several times that they "probably didn't know" or "didn't understand how the process worked." The way he nodded and sarcastically said "yeah yeah, sure, Arianna" showed a slight nasty edge which I disliked. Also, he absorbed and agreed with several of their criticisms of his current government---a good refreshing thing, I thought.

However, he didn't come back with any inspiring message. It felt more like he kept saying, "yeah, I agree with you the situation sucks. We can only tweak this and that incrementally, but we're not gonna solve the problem yet." I felt his proposed solutions were too wimpy and not enough. Promoting community colleges, education, and reducing worker's compensation costs as his main solution to helping business in California? C'mon. That helps somewhat, but that doesn't address the heart of our business and unemployment problems. Helping all these community college students does nothing for the tons of experienced older unemployed people who are not in school right now.

He definitely was a good listener, which I liked. He showed compassion, although I thought it was too much compassion for illegal immigrants and not enough for the people who legally live here. On the illegal immigrant issue, he was way too liberal for me. Ensuring all kids of illegal immigrants have health insurance? C'mon! Legal resident adults need health care the most!

Bottom line: Bustamante listened well and he had a detailed understanding of the issues, but he was a bit too liberal for me on certain issues, plus he was condescending to others and uninspiring overall. I thought his personality was too weak and more like that of a number two person than a leader. Also his solutions were not ambitious enough for my taste.

Who am I voting for then October 7th? Gov. Gray Davis. I've only heard him speak for a total of 20 minutes. I heard him answer reporters' questions a few weeks ago at the previous debate in Walnut Creek. I was impressed with his humility, good listening skills, and thorough grasp of the detailed issues. He's not the most exciting person, but that's not as important as his pragmatic approach to solving California's problems. If only Gray Davis would get together with more like McClintock and Bustamante, I feel our state government would stand a better chance of making progress.

Please join me and vote NO on the California recall!