Presidential Candidates Coming to L.A., but Will They Conquer?

Today-Thursday-12-19-19, Presidential Democratic candidates are descending in Los Angeles for a debate at Loyola Marymount University.  It will be a crime if these candidates spend a great deal of time talking about Trump’s indecency, and the impeachment in Washington.  They should not overlook the challenges facing this city. These candidates should engage Californians in in-depth conversations that penetrate and reveal.

They need to tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear. Most of these candidates have mastered the craft of preaching to the choir.  I hope this is not what will take place in this debate.  This kind of political exercise is not how change happens.  These candidates need to present a vision for our problems and not just do the usual venting outrage against corporations and Trump. Candidates should do their homework.

Let me break it to you, Los Angeles County is not only “the homeless capital of America,” but we also have many people living in a great state of distress because 80% of their incomes go to greedy landlords. There are about 60,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County and roughly about 140,000 in the state. Los Angeles is also a place of wildfires, earthquakes, profound problems in our education system, and human degradation taking place behind the thousands of tents set up on sidewalks.

Many voters in California, me included, are still shopping for a candidate. The race is still wide open among voters in this state. Californians will vote for the Democratic presidential nominee on March 3. This is what is known as “Super Tuesday,” sixteen states will be holding elections that day.  Once the nominee is selected, this deep-blue state votes democratic in the major presidential election that is held in November.  Voters are still seeking for a candidate who has the potential of being intense, organized, and adamant like those supporting Trump. I am steering clear of those candidates who talk a good game.  And those who use the scriptures and talk about how the sky will open up and how the light will come out with celestial angels singing.  And all of a sudden,  Trump and all our problems will go away.

California is a democratic state. There are roughly 3 million more Democrats than there are Republicans.  Hillary Clinton crushed Trump in California in 2016. The state needs help and must figure out how we can play a more meaningful role in selecting presidents. In the last three decades, California is the place for candidates to go to collect serious cash; they see our state as an ATM.  Democratic candidates go to the rich liberals in Hollywood, and Republicans go to the conservative billionaires in Brentwood and Orange County.

I have attended two presidential candidates’ events here in Los Angeles, one with Elizabeth Warren and the other one with Tom Steyer.  The former was very skillful in using her personal story with policy proposals.  The latter miserably failed in trying to project himself as the people’s candidate.  Warren spoke eloquently as to how she will root out corruption in Washington, and Steyer solely focused on the environment.  I was perplexed as to how these two presidential candidates did not say a word about the housing crisis and immigration reform needed here in Los Angeles. I told senator Warren to look into immigration while taking a selfie with her.  After all, this is Los Angeles with a vast immigrant community.  I could not get a chance to put my name down on the list to ask a question in Steyer’s event. So, I just yelled it out to him: “Candidate talk about your ideas in fixing the housing crisis.”  I was confused for getting a standing ovation for having asked that obvious question.

It is for the best interest of the nation that California remains the vibrant force it has been since it joined the Union in 1850. Presidents need to do whatever they can to keep the promise alive in this state.   Yes, we owe it to those who made California what it is today; from those who came to the “Golden State” escaping the Dust Bowl to the Asian railroad workers to the high tech innovators, to the Mexican laborers who came here through the “Bracero Program” and to the civil war refugees who came to the state in the 1980s.

It is not clear if the richest state in the wealthiest nation on the planet can still be the vanguard of change in this nation when thousands of its schoolchildren sleep in shelters and cars.

Thank you for reading.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photos Credit: The one with the Hollywood sign was purchased online. And, the one with Senator Warren was taken with my cell phone.

Sources used.
Meyerson, Harold. “The Little Union That Could Shut Down This Week’s Democratic Debate.”  The American Prospect 16 Dec. 2019.  Web. 18 Dec. 2019.

Skelton, George. DEC. 15, 2019 3:01 PM   “Presidential candidates rarely discuss California’s issues. They should at the next debate.” Los Angeles Times 15 Dec. 2019. Web. 17. 2019.

Medina, Jennifer. “California and Nevada Ask: Iowa Who?” The New York Times 18 Nov. 2019. Web. 17 Dec. 2019.
Nov. 18, 2019

Projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primaries.  “California’s 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary.” Web. 17 Dec. 2019.

Spakovsky, Hans A. von and Gian Carlo Canaparo.  “California Can’t Pick Who Runs for President. New Law Just an Attack on Trump.” The Heritage Foundation 24 Sep. 2019. Web. 17 Dec. 2019.

Starr, Kevin. California: A History  (New York, Modern Library (2005). 13.