May 12, 2023 (SFChronicle.com)
Now that Sen. Dianne Feinstein has returned to the Senate after a long illness, California progressives can pause their efforts to force her to resign and confront a decision that tears at their political hearts.
Who will they support to replace Feinstein: Orange County Rep. Katie Porter or Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee? Whoever wins over progressives will have a better chance at being one of the two candidates to advance out of the March primary to the November general election.
No, it’s not too early to start thinking about it. Progressives around California gathered at watch parties Thursday night for the first public candidate forum between Porter and Lee, hosted by the left-leaning Working Families Party. The third top candidate, Burbank Rep. Adam Schiff, didn’t attend the Zoom-based forum. His campaign said he had a scheduling conflict.
About 75 people watched a live stream of the forum at an epicenter of progressive California, the Pride flag-draped backyard of the El Rio bar in San Francisco’s Mission District. It was the kind of crowd that cheered loudest when the candidates bragged about how they would hold the Democratic Party accountable. It was already a given how much they loathed the GOP.
“When Democrats don’t stand for working people, when Democrats don’t stand for peace, when Democrats don’t stand for constitutional authority in terms of waging war … and doing what is not in the best interest of the people, I’m going to take them on and stand strong,” Lee said — a line that earned one of the loudest ovations of the night.
Think of the people who show up at early campaign events like this as the equivalent of social media influencers. If they’re excited about a candidate, they’ll be the first to volunteer for and donate to a campaign — and, just as important, spread their enthusiasm to their social circles. Lee, who likely will be outspent by her opponents, needs to capture this crowd more than the others.
But in the absence of major policy differences with Porter, an early challenge forming for Lee, at least among this small sample size of voters, is concerns about her age.
While the 76-year-old Lee has not publicly shown any sign of mental decline, she could be hurt by ongoing coverage of the 89-year-old Feinstein, who has been battling illness and concerns about her mental acuity — not to mention a presidential race that could pit Joe Biden, 80, versus Donald Trump, 76. Age and ageism will likely both be on the ballot next year.
Meanwhile, in the only-in-California political gradation scale, Schiff counts as the moderate in this race, which means he has zero chance of scoring the Working Families endorsement as long as Porter and Lee are on the same ballot.
Right about when he launched his Senate campaign, Schiff applied in January to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus, an organization that Lee and Porter have belonged to for years. He withdrew his request to join in early March.
“How do we off Adam Schiff, nonviolently?” mused comedian/political commentator Francesca Fiorentini in the warm-up segment of Thursday’s Working Families Party forum. Schiff’s campaign was not amused. His campaign manager Brad Elkins tweeted that “this type of language is dangerous, especially for someone like @AdamSchiff who faces constant death threats. I expect this from MAGA folks, not our friends.”
Working Families Party California Director Jane Kim responded that “there’s no room for violence in our politics. And I don’t think a single person at the forum took a comedian’s off-hand comment as a genuine threat. (On Thursday) everyday Californians, including fast-food workers, young voters, and seniors got to ask serious policy questions of the candidates. We wish Congressman Schiff could have joined us.”
Fiorentini’s comment barely registered at the El Rio watch party. Many were too busy peering through microscopes trying to parse the policy differences between Porter and Lee.
“The daylight between them is … ” said Connor Kelly, pausing for several moments to search for the right word, “small.”
But that is a good thing, said the 30-year-old food bank worker. “It’s exciting to have that choice,” he said.
Kelly said he is “leaning toward” Lee. He admired her for being the only member of Congress not to vote to authorize the United States to go to war, a gutsy stand just days after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“At the same time,” Kelly said, “Katie Porter is also a badass.”
Lee waited roughly a minute into her 30-minute portion of the program to mention her signature anti-war vote. It was, she said, the mark of someone who isn’t afraid to stand for their beliefs, even when it means taking on her own party.
She, like Porter, talked about progressive staples like a Medicare for all health care plan and the Green New Deal environmental plan.
There was no lack of love or respect for Lee in this crowd. The attendees were well aware only two Black women have ever been elected to the Senate and only three current senators are Black. Lee, the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, is making representation a central theme of her campaign.
But some did harbor concerns about her age, particularly in light of how Feinstein just returned to D.C. after missing 94 votes while recovering from shingles. Her absence also prevented Democrats from confirming liberal judges.
Sydney Simpson, a 36-year-old nurse who is a member of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, said the situation with Feinstein worried her. “Can we get a guarantee that you’re not gonna stick around too long. Do you know what I mean?”
Like a guarantee that Lee will only serve one term? Lee told me that she’s not going to make that promise.
“Yeah, I know, that’s pretty ageist of me,” Simpson said. “But at the same time, we’re in a really sticky situation right now with Feinstein. I don’t want to put us in that situation again.”
Based on what she heard at the debate, Simpson is leaning toward Porter, who is 49. She likes how the third-term House member “gets into the weeds of things. That is very comforting to me. I really appreciate her giving pointed, specific answers to questions.”
Kim, the Working Families statewide director, said given that Lee and Porter have similar stands on most issues, the forum’s questions were intended to show what each candidate would prioritize if they were elected.
Porter was better at specifying. Housing would be at the top of her list, and Porter promised to demand that the federal government expand the housing voucher program for low-income residents.
“The federal government needs to stop pointing the finger at states and counties and cities and get in the game, helping on housing,” Porter said to cheers. “Your Democratic (Party) leadership doesn’t seem to grapple with the problems of housing. They don’t get that there’s a huge federal need here and a huge federal role.”
Keith Baraka, a San Francisco firefighter, also said that he “loved Barbara Lee,” but Porter’s stated focus on federal oversight sold him.
Baraka also had Feinstein-inspired concerns about Lee’s age.
“Bless you for all the work you’ve done, Barbara Lee — working with Black Panther Party, getting inspired by (the first Black presidential candidate for a major party) Shirley Chisholm,” Baraka said. “All those things are wonderful. But now it’s time to step aside and let another generation take the baton to work for progressive policies.”
Kim projects big hopes for whoever picks up that baton. She wants someone who can appeal to the 3 out of every 4 voters under 30 who are people of color. She envisions a senator who will have an outsize national presence like Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent-Vt. — who Lee name-checked a few times Thursday — and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was Porter’s law school professor.
Veteran California political strategist Garry South is dubious about how much value most voters will place in the candidates’ progressive credentials given that there’s “not much daylight between them.”
“Schiff is clearly more moderate in some ways than the other two,” South said. “But Schiff was one of the impeachment managers and got thrown off of the House Intelligence Committee (for his pursuit of Trump.) The average Democrat is going to look at this and say there’s just not a lot of difference between them.”
Schiff had better hope so. Meanwhile, progressive Californians are starting to watch this race very closely.
Reach Joe Garofoli: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @joegarofoli.
Written By Joe Garofoli
Joe Garofoli is the San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer, covering national and state politics. He has worked at The Chronicle since 2000 and in Bay Area journalism since 1992, when he left the Milwaukee Journal. He is the host of “It’s All Political,” The Chronicle’s political podcast. Catch it here:
He has won numerous awards and covered everything from fashion to the Jeffrey Dahmer serial killings to two Olympic Games to his own vasectomy — which he discussed on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” after being told he couldn’t say the word “balls” on the air. He regularly appears on Bay Area radio and TV talking politics and is available to entertain at bar mitzvahs and First Communions. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a proud native of Pittsburgh. Go Steelers!
©2023 Hearst Communications, Inc.
