California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) squared off Wednesday evening at the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles in their only debate of the U.S. Senate race in California.
The two Democrats, who face off in the November 8 general election thanks to California’s “top two” or “jungle” primary system, provided few policy differences but many personal attacks over an hour that offered little new information, or hope, to voters.
Harris, who leads in the polls and enjoys the endorsement of Democratic Party officials from President Barack Obama on down, came across as arrogant, condescending, and disdainful. She made little effort to appeal to the voters, and seemed content to cast aspersions on her opponent. Sanchez, on the other hand, came across as overly eager to appease viewers, speaking directly to the camera in a highly animated manner, and becoming overly defensive about her record in office.
For conservatives watching the race, there was little to enjoy. The moderators did a reasonable job of asking pertinent questions about the economy, foreign policy, and issues like immigration. But the candidates stayed firmly within the left-wing paradigm. Neither had anything of interest to say about water issues, for example, with Harris focusing on conservation measures and Sanchez boasting about the new innovation that is taking place in her Southern California stomping ground.
The only point of relative interest was when Harris attacked Sanchez for stating that up to 20 percent of Muslims support terror. Sanchez, who serves on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee had been citing global polling data, but Harris and others had cast her remarks as anti-Muslim. At the debate, Sanchez accused Harris of distorting her words — and that was that.
Neither candidate provided any sign that she would much more than a reliable party-line vote in the Senate.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.