News: Dahle tries to get his digs in

Monday, October 24, 2022

Dahle tries to get his digs in

Oct 24, 2022

By Lara Korte , Jeremy B. White , Sakura Cannestra and Owen Tucker-Smith

Presented by the Electric Trucks Now Campaign

THE BUZZ: Californians yesterday were treated to an afternoon of America's favorite pastime: fighting over politics.

The first and only debate between Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Republican Sen. Brian Dahle took place in KQED's San Francisco headquarters Sunday afternoon, right around the same time the 49ers and Chargers started their games. Conventional wisdom tells us debates aren't terribly consequential — they're rarely watched by undecided voters and do little to sway opinions — and the inopportune timing couldn't have helped.

Nevertheless, debates are a time-honored practice in electoral politics, and skipping them, even when you're almost certain to win, can be negatively received. Newsom, who is up 27 points in the polls, had little to gain. But for Dahle, who is massively underfunded and basically unknown next to the governor, the debate was perhaps his best chance to speak directly to voters and make his case that Newsom's policies are ruining the state. That's easier in theory than in practice.

Over the course of the hour, Dahle struggled to pin the state's various ills — homelessness, inflation, electrical grid woes — on Newsom. The state senator, who works as a farmer in Bieber as his day job, repeatedly criticized the governor for being out of touch with Californians, and "throwing money" at problems without creating solutions. He also took several shots at Newsom for spending time out of state on a pseudo-presidential campaign while Californians are struggling to afford basic necessities like gas and groceries.

Newsom rebuffed Dahle's attacks, and pivoted to a familiar (and reliable) playbook — painting the senator as just another Republican who was scheming to take away abortion rights and protect the interests of the oil industry.

On homelessness, perhaps California's most pervasive problem, Dahle said he'd focus on addiction, which affects a large portion of people living on the streets, by declaring a state of emergency over fentanyl.

Gubernatorial candidates, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, and Republican challenger state Sen. Brian Dahle spar during their debate held by KQED Public Television in San Francisco, on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022.

Unlike some of his fellow Republicans, who are tiptoe-ing around the abortion issue this year, Dahle was clear about his unequivocal opposition. He criticized the governor's support of Proposition 1, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, and said he would've vetoed the funding for out-of-state abortion seekers that the legislature included in the budget this year.

Those stances bode well for Newsom, of course, who is one of the foremost champions of abortion rights in year where Californians are fired up about defending the right to choose.

There's little chance the debate makes a dent in the final vote tally on Nov. 8. But it did give us a few insights into Newsom's political thinking. One key promise that we're bookmarking for future reference — the governor said he would commit to serving all four years of the next term.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. Halloween is just a week away. Even spookier? The election is just about two weeks away. Either way, be prepared for some door-knocking.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte .

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I wanted to give them space... I wanted to provide the opportunity for them to justify what they were saying, what they said, and the opportunity to be transparent about what they said." Newsom, after calling for LA City Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León to resign, on why he didn't do it sooner.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Today's Tweet of the Day. | Twitter

WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced

A message from the Electric Trucks Now Campaign:

DIESEL POLLUTION KILLS. ELECTRIC TRUCKS SAVE LIVES. California's freight communities, neighborhoods near warehouses and families living next highways are breathing the most polluted air in the country. The disproportionate exposure of these mostly Black and Brown communities to diesel exhaust pollution is one of the clearest examples of environmental racism. The California Air Resources Board's (CARB) own analysis shows we can save lives and deliver environmental justice with a stronger Advanced Clean Fleet standard.

TOP TALKERS

— " Former owner of Atherton estate with mysterious buried car has history of murder, sunken yacht ," by the Mercury News' Julia Prodis Sulek: "Police swarmed the grounds of a $15 million Atherton mansion on Friday where a landscaping crew dug up a buried Mercedes a day earlier and cadaver dogs hit on 'possible human remains.'"

— " The Way Los Angeles Is Trying to Solve Homelessness Is 'Absolutely Insane' ," by the New York Times' Ezra Klein: "In 2016, Los Angeles had about 28,000 homeless residents, of whom around 21,000 were unsheltered (that is, living on the street). The current count is closer to 42,000 homeless residents, with 28,000 unsheltered."

CAMPAIGN MODE

ATTENTION, ATTENTION — Caruso's huge ad campaign seems to be paying off in LA mayor's race , by POLITICO's Alexander Nieves: The billionaire shopping mall developer, who has spent tens of millions from his personal fortune in his first run for political office, is in a tight race with the veteran politician, according to at least one recent poll and political analysts.

— "' It's so blatant': Oil companies are pumping money into state races following Newsom's push to tax profits ," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Sophia Bollag and Dustin Gardiner: "After Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to tax their windfall profits, oil companies have spent millions to convince voters to elect their chosen candidates to the Legislature, hoping to stack the deck in their favor."

WORKING HARDER — " This swing district congressman is the rare Democrat who doesn't want to talk about abortion ," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli: "[Rep. Josh] Harder's message discipline can serve as a model to Democrats at a time when a rash of polls this week show their already slim chances of holding the House slipping away."

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CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

GOV SAYS CAN IT — " S.F.'s Toiletgate: Newsom calls $1.7 million bathroom a waste, halts state money until costs come down ," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Healther Knight: "The city, under state investigation for its terrible track record on housing, faces loss of state funding if it doesn't quickly come up with a realistic plan to build 82,000 new units of housing in eight years."

— " Southern California's Notorious Container Ship Backup Ends ," by the Wall Street Journal's Paul Berger: "The queue of ships waiting to unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell from a peak of 109 ships in January to four vessels this week, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California."

— " Despite years of shootings, beatings and dog bites, Antioch officers have avoided discipline. Now, the FBI is investigating ," by the Mercury News' Nate Gartrell: "It is not known precisely what incidents the FBI and a federal criminal grand jury are exploring in a probe focused on police in Antioch and nearby Pittsburg, but the investigation has led to the dismissal of dozens of federal and state criminal cases involving the suspected officers – and has put new pressure on a police department that civil rights attorneys say has long resisted reform."

IN WITH THE OLD — " As pipeline repair begins, new plan for offshore oil near Orange County looks a lot like old plan ," by the Orange County Register's Brooke Staggs: "Divers began work at the underwater site Wednesday, Oct. 19, despite requests from some Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups that federal regulators conduct a more thorough environmental review and give the public more time to comment."

— " UC Berkeley hires private security firm after fatal shooting near campus stirs safety concerns ," by the Los Angeles Times' Alexandra E. Petri: "In a statement, the university said it contracted with Treeline Security, a private company based out of San Francisco, to conduct daily evening patrols from 6 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. south of the campus near several dormitories."

DOUBLE CHECK THE TAPES — " Olympic Land Grab Exposed by Councilmember's Racist Tirade ," opines the NOlympics LA group for Knock LA: "The Sepulveda Basin has been earmarked for partial use in the LA28 Olympics plan as the 'Valley Sports Park,' with two temporary venues built for equestrian events and shooting, and a permanent canoe slalom venue installed. This was all public knowledge.What wasn't public knowledge was that Nury Martinez had been working with the mayor's office to hand this land over to the LA Rams."

— " Special report: Sacramento approved 20 homeless sites a year ago. Here's why none opened ," by the Sacramento Bee's Theresa Clift: "One by one the sites failed over familiar obstacles in Sacramento's longstanding stalemate over homelessness: neighborhood opposition, a lack of ongoing funding and poor communication between government agencies."

— " Time Is Up For El Sereno 'Reclaimers' Who Occupied Caltrans Homes During COVID Lockdown, " by LAist's Phoenix Tso: "Caltrans purchased hundreds of these properties in the 1950s and 1960s, intending to demolish them to build the 710 freeway extension. But the agency canceled the project in 2018, and the homes remained unoccupied.

A message from the Electric Trucks Now Campaign:

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

SLOW MARCH OF TIME — The Real Problem With America's Gerontocracy , by POLITICO's Michael Schaffer: Despite months of [Sen. Chuck] Grassley-the-pushup-pro messaging, some 60 percent of respondents, including more than a third of Republicans, told pollsters that they thought age was a concern.

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— " TikTok Parent ByteDance Planned To Use TikTok To Monitor The Physical Location Of Specific American Citizens, " by Forbes' Emily Baker-White: "It is unclear from the materials whether data about these Americans was actually collected; however, the plan was for a Beijing-based ByteDance team to obtain location data from U.S. users' devices."

TIKTOK GOES THE CLOCK — " Sorry you went viral ," by the Washington Post's Drew Harwell and Taylor Lorenz: "But this new era of instant, inexplicable attention has also come at a price. In interviews with more than three dozen TikTok creators, many noted that the app's reach often brings with it relentless demands: from angry commenters, from audience expectations, even from the algorithm itself."

HOLLYWOODLAND

— " Netflix's 'Dahmer' Series Is A Big Hit. But At What Price? " by LAist's John Horn: "It's indisputable that Dahmer is a financial winner. Whether Dahmer is a moral winner is quite another question."

JOIN WOMEN RULE THURSDAY FOR A TALK WITH DEPARTING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: A historic wave of retirements is hitting Congress, including several prominent Democratic women such as Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, House Democrats' former campaign chief. What is driving their departures? Join POLITICO on Oct. 27 for "The Exit Interview," a virtual event that will feature a conversation with departing members where they'll explain why they decided to leave office and what challenges face their parties ahead. REGISTER HERE .

MIXTAPE

— " Thousands rally in downtown L.A. for regime change in Iran ," by the Los Angeles Times' Matt Hamilton and Genaro Molina.

HITTING THE BOOKS — " Central American Studies gains popularity on California campuses ," by CalMatters' Itzel Luna.

— " Tetris-like ADU packs an office, pool house, music room and gym into a tiny space ," by the Los Angeles Times' Lisa Boone.

— " California Realtors apologize for role in racist housing ," by the Associated Press' Sophie Austin.

EAT YOUR HEART OUT, NYC — " Los Angeles, San Francisco are two of the 'Rattiest Cities' in the US, according to Orkin ," by Nexstar Media Wire's Brayden Stamps and Michael Bartiromo.

BIRTHDAYS

SATURDAY: FiscalNote's Mallory Howe Molina … Kurt Bardella … Geoffrey Baum … ACLU and Postmates alum Vikrum Aiyer …

SUNDAY: Caroline Kitchens of Shopify … Vikrum Aiyer

MONDAY: Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) … Deadline's Ted Johnson … former Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.) …

A message from the Electric Trucks Now Campaign:

ELECTRIC TRUCKS NOW TO STOP DIESEL DEATH. CARB's own research shows that we will achieve greater pollution reductions, save more lives and achieve $10 billion more in additional societal benefits by moving up the 100% electric truck sales goal by just four years. That is mostly public health savings from cutting almost 40% more deadly diesel soot pollution and 50% more smog-forming pollution than the proposed standard.

There is massive support from equity, health, business, labor, clean air and climate groups from across California for the Advanced Clean Fleet Accelerated ZEV Transition Alternative that hits 100% electric truck sales by 2036. Electric truck technology is here and strategies and funding are already in place to grow charging options to meet these reasonable and gradual goals.

Tell CARB to deliver cleaner air faster to our most polluted communities with a stronger electric truck standard.

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here .

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