Democrats debate, but don’t disagree
On Tuesday night, something odd happened at a debate of gubernatorial candidates in San Francisco: They didn’t disagree on anything.
That’s because only the four leading Democrats accepted the invitation from NARAL Pro-Choice California, which held the hour-long forum as a fundraiser for the organization that supports abortion rights. So do the Democrats who showed up before a crowd of 250 people.
None of the top three Republican candidates — Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach (Orange County), San Diego County businessman John Cox and former Sacramento-area Rep. Doug Ose — attended. Allen and Cox oppose abortion rights. Ose favors them except for some late-term procedures.
Cox didn’t attend for “the same reason Gavin Newsom won’t be at an NRA-hosted debate,” said Cox campaign manager Tim Rosales. Cox has been endorsed by the California Pro-Life Council. Allen and Ose said they weren’t invited.
There was such unanimity among the Democrats that there were at least three jokes about how much better it was to be here than watching President Trump deliver the State of the Union address, which was happening at the same time.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa conceded that “all four of us ... would be the strongest defenders of a woman’s right to choose.”
Yet, each agreed that there are battles to be fought. Even though California offers some of the strongest abortion rights protections in the country, according to NARAL state ratings, there is still room to improve, particularly when it comes to access to health care services. Nearly half of California counties don’t have a clinic where abortions are performed.
Nationally, abortion rights activists are concerned about changes coming at the federal level, with the GOP controlling Congress and Trump having said he is with the “pro-life” movement “all the way” at the March for Life in Washington, D.C., this month.
This week, the Senate voted 51-46 not to advance a Republican measure that would have banned abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy. But even though the measure failed, antiabortion rights advocates said it was intended to force a tough vote on Democrats up for re-election in red states like Indiana and North Dakota.
So with little to disagree upon over the core issues, the Democrats sought to win style points on who could best defend women’s reproductive rights.
“If you’re looking for timidity, I’m not your guy,” Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said, pointing to his support for a single-payer health care system that would help provide better services to women. “I will have your back.”
Villaraigosa sought to cast many reproductive rights issues as “economic justice issues,” as poor women — particularly poor women of color — often can’t afford services. “This state can’t leave so many people behind,” he said. “My entire life I’ve stood up for those people.”
Each of them said they disagreed with Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision last year to veto a bill that would have banned employers from firing or disciplining a worker for “their reproductive health decisions.”
“I think Jerry was dead wrong about that,” said former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin.
And each of them supports a bill before the Legislature that would allow student health centers at public university campuses to provide abortion pills.
State Treasurer John Chiang said he has long been a leader on reproductive rights issues, like fighting to secure funding to keep clinics open. California needs someone who can also take on Washington, he said.
The question, Chiang said, “Is who is best positioned to take on President Trump?”
While no Republican attended the forum, one did make news elsewhere. Cox released the first TV ad of the campaign, a 30-second spot called “Bacon.” It was scheduled to air statewide Tuesday on Fox News before Trump’s address to Congress.
Over footage of pigs eating from a trough, it bemoans how “special interest lobbyists” buy influence and are “sticking it to the middle class.” Without offering specifics, the ad says Cox “has a plan to deal with the corrupting influence of the special interests” — then cuts to an image of bacon cooking.