First off, shame on CNN for putting online access to the debate behind a paywall. It was the only head-to-head debate between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, which made it particularly important for it to be as easily accessible as possible for the public.
It’s clear why Becerra has avoided debates and refused interviews with the media – too often when he talks, he sticks his foot in his mouth or tees up his opponent for a retort.
When criticizing Hilton’s plan for tax cuts, Becerra stated, “Promising Trump tax cuts, believing you’re going to get better results than Trump has gotten so far to date. Isn’t it the definition of insanity? You do the same thing over and over again expecting different results?” Naturally, Hilton responded, “Yes. Like voting Democrat.”
The media lamented the fact that the debate did not include any California journalists to question the candidates, but the debate did bring out all of their warts – from false promises to ugly policy commitments to a lack of accountability.
Starting with false promises with respect to the high cost of housing, Hilton noted that new home construction in California faces hundreds of thousands in added costs from government fees and regulation.
He claimed he would cap those at $50,000 but the sources for those estimates, cited on his website, calculate that over $40,000 of those added costs come from compliance with building codes. This means that Hilton would somehow have to cap delays, fees, zoning regulations, architectural requirements, and OSHA compliance to just $10,000. That’s implausible.
The name of the game for Becerra was tying Hilton to president Trump, a line of attack that Hilton’s alignment with Trump’s policies has facilitated.
On immigration, Becerra criticized Hilton for wanting to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and for calling Trump’s deportation campaign “perfect.” Hilton was asked by the moderators whether he would direct state law enforcement agencies to only cooperate on criminal immigrant deportations but he did not make that commitment, instead claiming that “it’s about enforcing the law,” referring to federal immigration laws. Reasonably, that implies cooperation across the board and it makes Hilton less attractive to the many Californians who view Trump’s immigration agenda as deplorable.
In response, Hilton criticized Becerra’s leadership as Secretary of Health and Human Services under Biden. As the New York Times reported, under his leadership, HHS lost track of tens of thousands of children, some of which were exploited and abused.
Similar to my interview with Becerra, it’s abundantly clear that the former California Attorney General has difficulty taking accountability for his and his party’s failures. He denied responsibility for his role in the debacle and resorted to blaming the Trump administration.
Really, he blamed the Trump administration for everything that is wrong in California. On high gas prices, he blamed Trump. On homelessness, he blamed Trump. On wildfires, he blamed Trump. On healthcare, you guessed it, he blamed Trump.
As much as we may be justified in pointing some of the blame towards Trump’s policies, Becerra is unwilling to acknowledge that he and his party have contributed more than their fair share to each of these challenges.
For his part, Hilton’s go-to move was to argue that Democrats have been in charge while all of the problems that Californians care about have manifested and that Becerra represents more of the same. Cue the stale “definition of insanity” phrase. This move only works if you present a relatively attractive alternative for voters, which Hilton does not.
One astute point that Hilton made was in pointing out that Democrats are taking their electoral victories for granted. He noted that LA Mayor Karen Bass claimed during a podcast that there is no need for a gubernatorial election because it’s a given that the Democrat will win. “They think that they can just do whatever they want, get whatever bad results … taking their votes for granted. That’s why he’s not trying to earn anybody’s vote.”
Yes, Becerra has avoided the media and largely rejected debate opportunities because Hilton will almost certainly lose this election by a significant margin even if Becerra makes a minimal effort to engage with voters.
That is the vicious feedback that voters are giving Democrat politicians but Hilton hasn’t helped his cause.
If you want to present an attractive alternative to Democrats in California, you cannot play as a Trump-backed parrot that has either praised or refused to criticize Trump’s most unpopular schemes.
Hilton is right that very little of what Becerra has shared about his campaign indicates that he won’t bring more of the same, so we’re off to four more years of incompetent leadership in the state.
Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group