Democrats Still Have a California Problem

Steve Morris: “The California gubernatorial race has huge stakes for the Democratic Party. The candidates don’t quite measure up.”

“Whatever else one might think, it’s hard not to feel like California’s gubernatorial field is smaller than the moment. Literally, in one sense — the candidates are unusually short for politicians. The field also lacks any of the A-list candidates many expected to jump in: former VP Kamala Harris, Sen. Alex Padilla, and state Attorney General Rob Bonta all passed on the race. The only incumbent statewide office holders, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and State Treasurer Fiona Ma, dropped out, as did the only incumbent member of Congress, the now disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell.”

“That’s left a field of unlikely contenders now battling to be the leader of the world’s fifth-largest economy, leading some to draw comparisons to the 1988 Democratic presidential field, which was labeled the ‘seven dwarfs,’ both for the candidates’ physical stature and their non-heavyweight status.”

“My sense of this was only reinforced when watching Tuesday’s debate, which was one of the candidates’ last high-profile appearances before the June 2nd primary.”