democracy dies in daylight
unfortunately i attended the 30th district congressional debate
“Hi everybody! Who’s ready to support Democracy?!”
That’s how television news person Elex Michaelson of Fox 11 LA, impossibly handsome with thumbs up blazing, kicked off the debate for the 30th U.S. Congressional District race last week.
Ten candidates, not including that actor from Boy Meets World, took the stage at the Ebell in Mid-Wilshire to talk about the issues of the day, from LA’s housing affordability crisis, abortion, the unhoused, to immigration. The 30th District is an alluring seat for anyone with politician brain, making them drop everything they’re doing to use it as a springboard to attract major donors and connections. It covers Hollywood to Pasadena, the wealthy power center of Southern California. The person who currently holds the seat, Adam Schiff, used it to propel himself into the national spotlight, and not in a good way. Following the March 5 primary, the winner in November will likely hold the seat for decades.
I decided to go to the debate mostly because it was a chance to get Mike Feuer, the former LA City Attorney, in front of an audience and ask him questions about the criminal prosecution of his office. I had a plan, choreographing our inevitable exchange after years of orbiting each other on social media, but never crossing paths in real life.
I started psyching myself out on the drive over.
“Mike, why are you lying about knowledge of an extortion payment that happened under your watch as city attorney?”
I cleared my voice, putting more authority behind it.
“Mike, do you dispute the FBI’s determination that you lied about the extortion? Lying to a federal grand jury is a crime. How did you not commit a crime?”
God I sounded like such a boy scout. Why was I even bothering? I had a newborn baby at home. People were counting on me. But instead I was running around with minor brain damage from months of no sleep.
“Oh you went to Harvard? Okay, I’ll speak slower for you. Why. Did. You. Lie?”
My hands were extended and my face was red. I might have run a red light. So I took a breath, and turned the music down.
This was going to be great though. I was going to record our exchange and go viral, I thought, rolling into the parking lot. My viral moment was going to tank his campaign and finally put an end to his precious political career.
Then in my rearview I noticed three cop cars zoom in behind me. I looked around. There was a lot of security. Getting out of my car, the Ebell appeared to me like a fortress, concealing its stately power to the exclusion of me, a guy driving a Prius who accidentally showed up to a debate dressed like he knows nothing about current events. I looked down at my outfit. I was accidentally dressed like a racist duck hunter. It had been raining, so I had on rubber Chelsea boots, an orange rain jacket and a camouflage hat. So embarrassing. I shrugged and left the parking lot.
After confirming RSVPs, security wanded us through the opulent foyers of the theatre. The event was advertised as open to the public, but you couldn’t just walk in. Everyone looked really respectful and smart, like they had dinner reservations at La Républic afterwards. I found my seat up front. I checked the program. It said no interruptions. I pulled out my laptop, then my phone, and quickly scrolled Twitter before putting my phone back down without anything on my feed registering in my brain. I opened up the notes tab on my Macbook, then looked up at the stage as the moderator introduced the candidates.
They all seemed so…random. But also very intentional. There was a documentarian, a trans drag queen, a physician, a gay-minority-working class-renter, some guy who probably mistook the debate for happy hour, a state senator, a career politician, and a Lesbian energy healer. They immediately began falling over each other to prove to the virtuous audience that they were the most oppressed demographic, and therefore best suited to go to Washington to help everyone.
“I am a lesbian woman of color and an energy healer,” cooly announced Sepi Shyne, who was born in Iran and is currently the mayor of West Hollywood.
Wait, I’m into energy, and I’m into healing. Go on, I thought.
Jirair Ratevosian announced himself as a gay Armenian-American, as well as a renter, who is the son of immigrants, and whose mom worked for McDonalds (nice so does mine, definitely voting for you). State Senator Anthony Portantino said he grew up in an apartment with a single mom. Mike Feuer’s dad almost died in the Holocaust. Laura Friedman, also a state legislator, said if elected she would be the first woman to hold the seat. Another guy whose name I forgot to write down said he supports the working class. All the liberal buzzwords were there, as if they were generated by ChatGPT and poll-tested in a laboratory before being presented to the audience. I turned around to look at everyone. Most people scanned as aged out hippies or people who studied really hard in college. They were happy to help, so as long it validated them as charitable citizens of California who held thoughtful, morally-correct positions on people who they only saw in like, documentaries.
Michaelson presented the first issue. Can the federal government even help LA’s housing affordability crisis?
Candidates didn’t have much time, so answers were pretty short. Feuer said he would work to secure a refundable renter’s credit that hasn’t been available to Californians. Friedman said we need to stop speculative buying of single family homes. Francesco Arreaga, who proclaimed himself the youngest candidate on the stage, said the median income in LA is about $30,000. For families making less than $50,000?
“They’re gonna be unhoused,” he said.
Steve Dunwoody went further, saying universal basic income was needed to help combat decades of economic violence.
“How are you going to pay for that?” interjected Michaelson.
“Roll back the Trump tax cuts, close the loophole for the biggest corporations,” he answered.
Michaelson then asked if there is a crisis at the border with Mexico, which was sort of a weird question. I don’t think anyone disputes there is a problem. But Feuer confirmed there was a crisis, stating that as City Attorney he protected DACA, the law that allowed undocumented children to remain in the country legally.
“I was a leader in the effort to try and preserve it,” Feuer told us.
Most candidates agreed the border should be protected while increasing visas and making a path to citizenship possible for the undocumented.
At one point, Maebe A. Girl aka G. Pudlo, the trans drag queen, said “abolish ICE,” eliciting a comment from Michaelson.
“There we go, there’s a lot there!”
Girl, who previously ran for the seat, is running on universal healthcare, free college, housing for all, a livable wage, racial and LGBTQIA+ justice, reproductive rights, and mandatory therapy for white men.
As an at-large representative on the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, they said they were the first drag queen elected to office. Up on stage, they called for a ceasefire in Gaza, the only candidate to do so.
“If we have money to send bombs all around the world, then we have money for healthcare,” they proclaimed.
This did not get applause from the audience. The issue of military spending, and sending weapons to Ukraine and Israel wasn’t even brought up by the moderator. Just days after the event, the Senate sent a $95 billion package to the House to finance the disastrous proxy wars in Ukraine and Gaza despite public opinion turning on America’s funding of the genocide. But it seemed like most people on stage accepted the funding as a necessary reality.
But here’s what weirdly did get applause from the audience: a comment from a candidate named Alex Balekian that homeless people are drug addicts. Balekian is an ICU physician who is the California version of Ron DeSantis. The comment prompted Nick Melvoin, a former teacher, to turn and ask: “Does Alex think all homeless people are drug addicts?”
“We shouldn’t demonize people who are struggling,” chimed in Dunwoody.
Friedman said that for every 10 people who approach her office seeking shelter, there are only three or four beds available.
“We have to build enough shelter beds,” said Friedman, who said most of the unhoused are older women.
This all reminded me of what the author Jordan Castro said about modern Leftists. Their support of marginalized groups is really a form of “self-important hatred,” because it shows they can only bring themselves to care about the smallest number of people, while not really caring about everyone else. It validates their obsession with power structures, and their hunger for power. And it’s part of a greater trend in a society that has moved from “loving thy neighbor” to “loving the world.” It’s not that unhoused or LGBTQ people don’t deserve support, but when candidates talk about these issues they just don’t seem very genuine.
A funny moment came when Portantino, your chill Italian dad who just wants to make the world a better place, said he would want to sit on the Appropriations Committee. Ratevosian shut him down and quickly said that’s a committee freshman Congressman don’t get. Portantino unilaterally killed a lot of good legislation last year, including one to hold oil drillers accountable for adverse health impacts, and another to stop AI discrimination. If elected to Congress, Portantino said he would “sell out” wait no I mean bring “a sense of collaboration” to the House.
While answering questions, Feuer always looked at the moderator, and never out into the crowd like the other candidates. Throughout the debate, he always gave specific examples for what he would do as a congressman. He definitely had the most experience on stage as a former city councilor, state legislator, and city attorney. Because of that, he was able to to say he fought big banks like Well Fargo, and wrote “first-in-the-nation” legislation combating gun violence. He said he has “the strongest record on the stage on reproductive freedom.” Feuer’s right on all the popular social issues, but as city attorney he would take you to court and ruin your life for J walking. He’s the candidate most ready to put on the mask of the Democratic Party, which has pitched the fight in 2024 as a battle mirage of Democracy versus Fascism, while oblivious to the fact it is only protecting the rotting center. It’s actually insiders versus outsiders, the ruling class versus everyone else, but Dems are too busy being the party of war and corporate power to notice.
Who knows who will move on to the general election in the Fall, but it will probably be a combo of Feuer, Portantino or Friedman. Feuer and Portantino have raised the most money, while Friedman received the LA Times endorsement.
By this time I was getting bored, and started buying clothes advertised on Instagram. The question I submitted about the corruption that happened under Feuer was not asked and time was running out. The only audience question came from the Ebell, which paid for the event, asking how historical buildings would be preserved in the city.
Audience members probably had their minds decided by questions like, “Who’s your favorite singer?” Portantino said Bruce Springsteen (good call). Friedman gave the cool answer: Leonard Cohen, while Arreaga said Olivia Rodrigo. No way that guy’s favorite singer was Olivia Rodrigo. And also, way to read the room, absolutely no one in that over 60 audience probably even knew who she was.
Michaelson then asked everyone’s favorite movie.
“Come on, this is Hollywood baby!” he declared.
Most people said Barbie. There was no way of penetrating this shield. The candidates were set far back on the stage, and I wasn’t going to shout my questions into the void and get awkwardly thrown out. I wish I brought a megaphone. It was all so pointless. Oh well. I got up to leave.
Getting into my car, I watched an older couple walk by. They weren’t talking about the debate. I flagged them down.
“Hey, excuse me. I’m a reporter writing about this race. Did you like any of the candidates up there?”
“Mike Feuer,” said the woman, looking at my outfit.
"What do you like about him?”
“He’s got the experience we need to help move this country forward.”
“Got it. Does it matter at all to you that he lied about criminal activity while he was city attorney? Does LADWP corruption ring any bells for you?”
“I don’t know anything about it,” she said.
As they walked away, they continued talking.
“I can make pasta for dinner,” she said to her husband.
“Okay,” he responded.