“Sen. Dianne Feinstein solidified her case for a fifth re-election with a steady, studied presentation in her sole debate with her fellow Democrat, Kevin de León,” The Chronicle Editorial Board is reporting.
“Few major policy differences emerged in the hour-long session at the Public Policy Institute of California in its San Francisco headquarters. The distinctions were more a matter of degree, with veteran state legislator de León positioning himself as more assertively left of Feinstein on issues such as health care, immigration and climate change. He suggested he would be a more forceful advocate for California values and vowed to “move forward with impeachment” of President Trump.
“The conversation, moderated by institute President and CEO Mark Baldassare, covered a wide variety of issues. It was civil, substantive and serious, by the format’s design and Baldassare’s deft direction. The downside was that it sometimes did not allow candidates to directly counter one another. An example was when de León made a reference to ‘our senior senator’s’ vote to invade Iraq — and she was not asked to defend her decision.
“As challenger, de León had the burden of showing he would be a significantly different or more effective senator than an incumbent who was elected in 1992 and serves as the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee — and he fell short on each point.”
The rest of the article is here.
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