XPost: alt.philosophy.debate, alt.politics.trump, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, talk.politics.misc   
   From: democrat-insurrection@mail.house.gov   
      
   https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/10/senate-race-california-   
   debate-schiff-garvey/   
      
   The sparks started flying between U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and former L.A.   
   Dodgers star Steve Garvey minutes into their only one-on-one debate, as   
   both accused each other of failing Californians.   
      
   In an hour-long televised forum this evening for the U.S. Senate seat —   
   held by Dianne Feinstein until her death last year — the two traded verbal   
   jabs and clashed over a range of issues, including reproductive rights,   
   gun control and immigration.   
      
   Garvey, a Palm Desert Republican, portrayed Schiff as a “career   
   politician” who has done little to serve California residents during his   
   tenure. “This man hasn’t done anything over the last 24 years on any of   
   these things that have given us any consistency in life,” Garvey said.   
      
   Schiff, a Burbank Democrat who has served in Congress since 2001, in turn   
   depicted Garvey as a supporter of former President Donald Trump who has   
   experience in professional sports, not politics. “While Mr. Garvey was   
   signing baseballs for the last 37 years, I was seeing presidents of both   
   parties and governors of both parties sign my bills into law,” Schiff   
   said.   
      
   The heated exchanges contrasted with the dynamic of the race, which has   
   largely been quiet and static after the March primary, in which Schiff   
   spent millions boosting Garvey to elbow out his Democratic opponents, U.S.   
   Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. Schiff has consistently dominated   
   Garvey in statewide polls in deep-blue California and has raised more   
   money than his GOP opponent overall — enough to fund other Democrats in   
   toss-up races across the country.   
      
   Garvey, on the other hand, has run a much more low-key campaign and stayed   
   close to home — except for a summer trip to Israel. He fundraised for his   
   own campaign while skipping out on the California Republican Party   
   convention and the Republican National Convention. He’s also conducted   
   interviews with local TV stations and appeared at local festivals.   
      
   Here’s more on some of the key issues during the debate hosted by ABC7 in   
   Los Angeles and the League of Women Voters of California:   
      
   Garvey, noting that he is Catholic, said he pledged to support the will of   
   Californians on reproductive rights. In November 2022, California voters   
   enshrined the right to abortion and contraception into the state   
   constitution, which Garvey acknowledged.   
      
   Garvey has said he believes reproductive freedom is a state-by-state   
   issue. In January, Garvey said he opposed a nationwide abortion ban. And   
   in July, he said he supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which ended   
   decades of federal protection for abortion and relegated the decision   
   making power to the states.   
      
   Schiff said he supports making the right to abortion a federal law and   
   hammered Garvey for supporting the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to   
   overturn Roe vs. Wade.   
      
   “If my colleague was listening to the voices of Californians as he claims,   
   he would hear their voices loud and clear: Californians want a national   
   right to reproductive freedom and they don’t want the government in the   
   business of making that decision for women,” Schiff said. “I’m for   
   reproductive freedom, Mr. Garvey. You are not.”   
      
   ‘Court packing’   
   Schiff has blamed the decision overturning Roe on the high court’s   
   conservative majority and supported expanding the court from nine justices   
   to  13.   
      
   “What I care about is that a small number of conservative justices, who   
   lied about their plans to the Senate, intend to deprive millions of women   
   of reproductive care,” he said.   
      
   In response, Garvey repeatedly accused Schiff of supporting court packing   
   — a partisan ploy to change the number of justices to achieve a desired   
   outcome. It can be done in theory, but past efforts have failed amid steep   
   opposition, ABC News reported.   
      
   Garvey argued that Schiff’s support for nationwide abortion rights, gun   
   control measures and abolishing the filibuster — which in effect requires   
   60 votes to pass legislation in the U.S. Senate — show that Schiff wants   
   to pack the court and “deconstruct” the Constitution.   
      
   In response, Schiff said U.S. Supreme Court justices should be   
   “rebalanced” and term limited, held by a stronger set of ethics code.   
      
   “As for packing the court, Mr. Garvey, in case you weren’t paying   
   attention, it’s already been packed,” Schiff said, referring to the   
   conservative majority.   
      
   Guns   
   Garvey, who told CalMatters last year he supported an assault weapons ban,   
   did not say whether he changed his position tonight. Instead, he focused   
   solely on pre-sale background checks.   
      
   “I think that the most important thing is a stringent background check   
   that goes much deeper than it is today in order to preserve the integrity   
   of the Second Amendment and to be able to provide for people to defend   
   themselves,” he said.   
      
   Schiff said he supports a universal background check law, as well as a ban   
   on assault weapons and extended ammunition clips. He would also “strip   
   away the (National Rifle Association)’s immunity from liability,” he said.   
      
   Donald Trump   
   Schiff — who led the first impeachment against Donald Trump — has   
   continued to slam the former president as an unfit leader. In his own   
   race, he has attempted to tie Garvey — who has voted for Trump twice and   
   who plans to vote for him again — to Trump, accusing Garvey tonight of   
   being a “MAGA Mini-Me in a baseball uniform.”   
      
   Garvey, on the other hand, said Schiff’s focus on his impeachment effort   
   against Trump prohibits him from addressing the needs of Californians,   
   arguing that it would be the “most toxic” Senate if Schiff got elected.   
      
   “I can’t imagine, Mr. Schiff, how you can get up every morning and have   
   one mission, and that’s to go after Donald Trump,” Garvey said. “How can   
   you think about one man every day and focus on that when you’ve got   
   millions of people in California to take care of?”   
      
   But Schiff wore his outspokenness against Trump as a badge of honor,   
   arguing he “stood up to a corrupt president” and witnessed as Trump   
   “incited” a mob storming the Capitol building.   
      
   Immigration   
   Tonight, Garvey described the border as “an existential crisis” created by   
   President Joe Biden. While border crossings spiked under Biden, he has   
   pushed for tougher border restrictions, including expanded executive   
   authority to shut down the border and restrict asylum seekers.   
      
   But Garvey penned an op-ed in La Opinión against mass deportation of   
   illegal immigrants, which Trump has pledged to do if he returns to the   
   White House. Instead, Garvey argued the federal government should increase   
   funding to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, strengthen border security   
   and expedite family-based green card applications. He advocated for   
      
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