S3 E10: You Voted For Whom? Honey, We Need a Debate!

Richie and Erica debate, well, debates! Political candidates who've been included and left out of forums and debates for a variety of reasons, some good, some ridiculous. And just why did you vote for this candidate or that? What's the drive? 

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Transcript

Really, San Francisco? Podcast

Season 3 Episode 10

Debates

Why did you vote for whoever you did? 

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Richie Greenberg: Hey, I'm Richie Greenberg, and this is Really San Francisco, and it's Friday, March 27th. Thanks for joining us, and here's my lovely co-host, Erica. Say hi, Erica!

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Hello, everyone.

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Richie Greenberg: How are you doing today?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Great.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah, it's a wonderful time to be alive, and we're coming to… we're here in San Francisco, the city by the bay, and you know, we're always having fun here, aren't we?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: R.

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Richie Greenberg: there's… there's so much excitement, and… and… and right now, we're, we're starting to come closer, edging, ever so close to the, the June…

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Richie Greenberg: primaries, right? So, we don't talk about just the parties and fun things that are going on in the city, and restaurants, and drug addicts, and the good and the bad, but we also follow politics.

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Richie Greenberg: So you and I, Erica, we've been discussing very, very recently about things that are happening with the race for the person, the successor to Nancy Pelosi.

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Richie Greenberg: And Nancy Pelosi, as everybody knows, or if you're paying attention, we hope you know, that she's retired, and she's not running again for the… so there's an open seat

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Richie Greenberg: for the House of Representatives, which is voted by, here, San Franciscans, right? And, so we have multiple candidates, I think there's 9 or 10,

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Richie Greenberg: Want me to name them? Yeah, it's Scott Wiener, Scycat, or Shycat, now they're saying it's, it's Shichot.

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Richie Greenberg: Chakrabhati and,

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Richie Greenberg: and Connie Chan, and there are other candidates, and one of them that we've been paying attention to, who we both know, is Marie Harabiel, so…

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Richie Greenberg: Erica, what is the issue that we have been talking about that's kind of made the news in the last couple of days, and even yesterday and this morning? Take it away.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Sure, it's, it's the importance of, Taking part in debates.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: And these debates are really a vital component to education for the voter.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: for people who are even interested in voting or interested in a candidate, you want to know what they think, what they believe, what they would do if they were elected, but you also want to know how they behave with their fellow candidates. If somebody asks them a question, they have a chance to rebut it, and they can do the same, and it's a really important and

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: wonderful forum for knowledge and just simply being an informed voter. So being on that stage, wherever it is, whoever is hosting it.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: is crucial to the process, to the democratic process. It's entertaining, too. I love debates, I adore them, they can have great fireworks, they're interesting, right? But as I say, it is… it is a…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: a vehicle for the candidate to get their voice out, and to show how they are different from all the others, and sometimes how they're.

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Richie Greenberg: They're the same, exactly. So you'd have.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That's right.

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Richie Greenberg: stage, you'd have at some venue. It could be as simple as something that looks like a classroom.

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Richie Greenberg: all the way up to a full, like a theater, like a theater, like at the Castro theater. They've actually… I've been on stage there at candidate forum debates, and you have a moderator.

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Richie Greenberg: You have, all the candidates are lined up, they're either sitting in a chair, or they have podiums, that's, I think, that's more like the presidential kind of…

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Richie Greenberg: higher end. And then someone in the audience in the front row is the timekeeper, and they're holding the time card to say, okay, you've got 30 seconds, wrap it up. And then they, have pre-written questions that the moderator is holding.

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Richie Greenberg: Or they… and or they, have audience right there. They'll fill out a card and say, here's what we would like to ask the candidates. So, yes.

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Richie Greenberg: I agree entirely, Erica, that a candidate forum or debate, they don't like to call them debates as much anymore, because that, you know, you have sparks flying, I know, it's like, they don't want to… they don't want to have all of that controversy and arguing and yelling at each other, so they call it more of a forum. Okay.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: A rose by any other name.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah, exactly.

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Richie Greenberg: So what's, so what's, what's happening?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yeah, so…

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Richie Greenberg: Unfortunately.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: we had a situation, this comes after another situation where Marie was not invited to the debate slash forum. I believe it was to be held at the Commonwealth Club, but sponsored by KQED.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: So, this is a big one. It really is a big one. And only 3 candidates are going to be up on stage, and so you're looking at Scott Weiner, Saikot Chacobarti, and Connie Chan.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Marie? Not there. Now, you and I have talked about this before, that there's a lot of similarities between those three candidates, and then you have somebody who's an outlier, who is Marie. And…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: to have… I… and there are some reasons, you know, when you and I were discussing this before, as to the two reasons that were given that Marie was excluded from this. One is that she missed the deadline by two days, but that was… and the reason…

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Richie Greenberg: The deadline… the deadline for what?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right, to participate in this… in this debate. However, she announced her candidacy after that date, just 2 days after that date, so it would have been impossible because she… she, at that stage, wasn't a candidate.

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Richie Greenberg: Basically, what it means, like, the application deadline had closed. Correct. Anyone that was already a candidate announced…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yes.

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Richie Greenberg: they could apply and say, I would like to join the debate. The door closed, the list of invitees were set in stone, and two days later is when Marie even announced her candidacy.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That's right.

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Richie Greenberg: So the hosts, right, which is KQED and Manny's, I think, and a few others, they're like, well, you missed the deadline. You weren't even a candidate when the deadline… so that was the first, that's the first…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: But the reason that they also gave for that, which is why they're not budging on that, is because it's a logistical issue. Oh, we can't do it, it's impossible. How could we possibly add another chair?

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Richie Greenberg: Well…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: But…

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Richie Greenberg: You know, can we hold up, hold up? Okay. Back in 2018, this is a great point, back in 2018, when I, when I ran, if people listening don't know, I ran for mayor here in San Francisco, along with London Breed and Angela Aliotto and Jane Kim. So, we had a crasher.

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Richie Greenberg: We actually had a candidate, like Marie, who filed, who was on the list, official, but she, what was her name? Amy Farrow Weiss.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Oh, yes!

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Richie Greenberg: Okay, you remember.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Absolutely.

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Richie Greenberg: Amy Farrell-Weiss, she was a candidate, she was not invited, and we're all up on stage getting ready to start a debate on stage at the Castro Theater, and she walks up

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Richie Greenberg: And comes over and stands next to all of us, seated there, and demands… she demanded to be included, demanded a chair.

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Richie Greenberg: And they relented. They all debated, a different kind of debate, but the hosts and…

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Richie Greenberg: And, the moderator, and they said, okay, we'll, we'll include her. So, logistically, I'm calling big BS on that. There is no reason why they can't do it, because they did it for Amy Farrell Weiss multiple times, not just once, multiple times they did it for her.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: It's a bold move.

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Richie Greenberg: Oh, yeah, I really hope.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: I remember Amy very well, yeah.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah, yeah, to crash… to crash a debate.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yes, yes, she was a funny character. She used to show up at a lot of community meetings, Board of Supervisor meetings in the community, excuse me, in the comment part, and yeah, she was,

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Richie Greenberg: I don't even know if she's still around anymore, I don't know…

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Richie Greenberg: lost her mojo or something, I don't know.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: She was pretty much of a full-blown communist, like, she would call herself that, too, so she was interested, but she was actually very sweet. Okay, no, no, nonetheless, so back to this.

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Richie Greenberg: listening.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: reason.

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Richie Greenberg: They're saying it's a logistical problem, I called BS on that, but they.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yeah, that's ridiculous. But, I mean, obviously, you know, you go to a restaurant, and some, you know, celebrity shows up, and all the tables are booked, and suddenly a table appears.

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Richie Greenberg: What are they gonna say? Sorry, logistically, we can't serve you, leave, get out.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: He got Brad Pitt out here, he needs a table.

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Richie Greenberg: Sorry, Brad, get out.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right, so, so…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: you know, I… I… you and I were also talking about earlier, I am a rule follower. I definitely believe, like, you don't meet that deadline, you don't meet the deadline.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: And I'm not saying… so, to me, it's an interesting issue.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: I have to go back, and I know you do too, Richie, and you think, would I be this passionate about saying, hey, let's allow it in this case, if it were somebody who I didn't support?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: And the key here…

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah, and that… you're right, exactly, because you say, well, no one likes this person, so it's no problem.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That's right, that's right.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That's why we have to roll back our personal interests, right, and really think about what this is for. What are debates for? They are to educate the voting public.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: So that people can feel informed and ready to make the right decision when they reach the ballot box. That's important! That's… that needs to be the guiding principle to me. So, I think…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: if it were somebody who I really didn't like, I would struggle with that. I would, you know, it's true, I would struggle with that, but would I want…

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Richie Greenberg: Remember, in this particular race, right, we're talking about this, Nancy Pelosi, House of Representatives, there are 9 or 10 candidates, not just 4. So there are 6, 6 or 7 more besides Marie, who also are not included.

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Richie Greenberg: And, let's look at the other criteria as well, because it's not just the deadline that they said that, you know, you missed it by 2 days, and logistically it's a problem. But they were saying, and I experienced this as well.

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Richie Greenberg: You have to have either a certain… you have to reach a certain polling level, or polling…

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Richie Greenberg: Position, like you need to be…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Not in this case.

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Richie Greenberg: Four, five, six.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: This was all fundraising.

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Richie Greenberg: Well, because there is no poll, as far as I know, there's no official poll, so they can't go by polling. Then it's, how much money have you raised? Because, again, there are some of these candidates that have only raised, from what I can tell, you know, almost nothing. And so, well.

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Richie Greenberg: You know, there's no poll, no one knows who you are, and you didn't raise any money, so you're basically not viable.

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Richie Greenberg: And so this is the other criteria. The problem is that looking at the official

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Richie Greenberg: fundraising reports online with the government that you can look at it, right? That Marie, because she's new and did not file until after the end deadline, it shows that she hasn't raised zero, nothing.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right.

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Richie Greenberg: So that's the problem. Right. She could be in first place. She, you know, Scott Weiner's showing $2.7 million raised as of the deadline of the last reporting time.

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Richie Greenberg: So, who knows? I mean, you know, we won't know until, sometime next month, in a few weeks.

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Richie Greenberg: the actual fundraising. But that's the other criteria they were using also. So that's the issue with not only Marie, but the majority of the other outliers, as you said, the outlier candidates. We don't know how much they raised. We have to wait until that comes in.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: And I have to say, Philosophically.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: I think that criteria is nauseating, it's undemocratic, it's wrong on every level.

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Richie Greenberg: Because of the fundraising, how much…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Fundraising, the fundraising issue, because you should… we need to have a process where somebody who has… is committed, smart, can get the job done, is new, right, to be able to enter. That's…

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Richie Greenberg: And, and to that point, look at, look at, Mayor, alright? Mayor, Daniel Lurie.

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Richie Greenberg: known, you know, a billionaire or almost there, centimillionaire, billionaire heir to a fortune, right? He has, you know, just generally speaking, unlimited funds to be able to fund his own campaign. Right. So, because he has so much money available.

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Richie Greenberg: Doesn't make him a better candidate than the others who aren't able to raise that kind of money.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yeah, it's a huge problem. It's a huge, huge problem in our.

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Richie Greenberg: They use that, but this is what they use.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: No, I know, I know, but it's really frustrating, because then when you look at the people who are in office from

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: from the lowest ranks to the highest ranks, and you think, this is the best that we could do? These people? Are you serious? Right? And it has nothing to do with whether they were…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: the… the best people for the job. That has almost nothing to do with it. It's, as you just said, it's the money that they raised, and with that money, they're able to influence decisions. Now that comes to our topic!

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Richie Greenberg: Hold on, hold on, hold on. It's time to do a little martini break. Hold on, let's quick… let's get over my… There we go. Yes, darling.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Of course, we're just drinking sparkling water. It's early in the day, but it's fun.

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Richie Greenberg: Okay. All right, all right, go ahead.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yes.

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Richie Greenberg: stop, go, go.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yeah, so why do you vote the way you vote? You know, and this is a…

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Richie Greenberg: Why the F did you vote this way?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right, you've got names on a ballot. You've got all these names on a ballot, right? Why are you choosing that person who you're choosing? What makes you do that? Everyone's gonna have their own reason, but I'm… this is sort of a…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: let's go back. You know, I hope everyone thinks a little bit more after this podcast about why you're doing what you're doing. Is it the money that that candidate spent in order to get those, those,

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Richie Greenberg: Flyers, yeah. Right, flyers.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Sure, right? Is it… and in that way, it's name recognition, right? You've seen, oh gosh, you know, I keep seeing this… this person's name on… right?

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Richie Greenberg: They must be really good, they must be really popular, this is the person I'm going to support.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That's right.

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Richie Greenberg: And you and I, we talked about this a few days ago, in our decision to talk about this, is that clearly that doesn't mean that they're a good candidate.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right.

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Richie Greenberg: You know, they just somehow got the money, and they're putting the word out there.

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Richie Greenberg: And, you're not looking as a voter, you're not, in that case, you're not looking to see the quality of the politician. You're not looking to see, their positions on any of the,

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Richie Greenberg: policy issues. You're looking just… maybe you're… I'm gonna vote for the person that I think is probably going to win.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Exactly, right? So you've got that, right? You've got that. The other is cheat sheets, where you have… you're just gonna go with a voter guide.

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Richie Greenberg: Lord God.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: We'll tell you who to vote for.

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Richie Greenberg: That is lazy. That is so lazy, but I must say… oh, hold on, hold up, okay, here…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Let me do.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: By the way, shout out to Trader Joe's, absolutely delicious.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: I love this stuff. So good.

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Richie Greenberg: So, okay, shout out, you know what this is? This is City of San Francisco faucet sauce. Basically, it's just tap water.

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Richie Greenberg: There you go.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Very good.

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Richie Greenberg: It's like, okay.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: You must hydrate.

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Richie Greenberg: So.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: What are guys!

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Richie Greenberg: What were you saying? What were you saying?

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Richie Greenberg: And this isn't even booze, this is just water.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Oh, I know.

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Richie Greenberg: Oh, boy. So, yeah, it's just people, they go by the cheat sheets. They look to see what… terribly lazy, terribly low information, but…

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Richie Greenberg: we have to face facts, Erica, you and I, and anyone that's similar to our passion, right?

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Richie Greenberg: Is that the majority of the people don't care about politics the way that we do.

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Richie Greenberg: They don't care. They're busy in their job, they're busy in their relationship, they're busy traveling somewhere. Where am I gonna be a… you know, I want to get one of these digital nomad visas and go to Mexico or whatever. They're working there, they're doing whatever.

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Richie Greenberg: And so they purposely, they don't have time, they don't have the energy, they don't have the understanding, they don't care. So they will either talk to a friend, family member, or a voter guide.

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Richie Greenberg: And that's…

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Richie Greenberg: The biggest, in my opinion, that's the biggest problem, because they don't take the time to look at what the issues are.

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Richie Greenberg: And why it really matters. So you have groups, you have unions, you have political organizations, you know, the Democratic Party and all the different clubs that are part of it, the Republican Party, all of it. They all come out with their recommendations based on their political leanings.

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Richie Greenberg: And they hope that they can convince you.

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Richie Greenberg: Why do they want to convince you? You should know better.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: There… so there's that.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right, so that's a big thing. Now, another, another reason we vote is

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: if you're a member of a political party, you just go down that list. Who's the… who's, you know, are you gonna vote for a Democratic Socialist? Are you gonna vote for a Democrat? Are you going to vote for a Republican and Independ… like, where… and then you just check that box, that's the person. So, again, that's…

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Richie Greenberg: You bring the list, you bring it to the polling station, or you'll get it in the mail, right? You get the ballot in the mail. Okay, here's what the recommendations are from any of these flyers that you know, and then you just fill it out.

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Richie Greenberg: send it in, and that's that. And you've done your civic duty. Actually, you have not done your civic duty. You've just filled out the form as if someone else did it for you.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right.

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Richie Greenberg: Right? Someone else has actually filled out… you're just transferring it from one to the other, signing your name. That's what that actually is.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: So these are the main, you know, I mean, and then there are the people who do all the research. They're gonna read everything that this person has done and taken, you know, and that's.

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Richie Greenberg: And that's the other way.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: You're the rare person.

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Richie Greenberg: But that's the other way. You see, some of these, they give commentary, whole long dissertations on each and every ballot measure, each and every candidate running for office, and that is also too much, in a way.

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Richie Greenberg: As well, it's just, wow, there's so much there, and after a while, that's not really that helpful either. But, you know, you have the Democratic Party, right? And you have the party leadership, the party committee here in the city.

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Richie Greenberg: and they're the official, the Democratic Party of San Francisco, and they put out a flyer, a slate, right, and they mail it to you. So, oh, I'm a Democrat, so I have to follow this. And that's not…

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Richie Greenberg: true, that's not really either, helpful either, because you have situations, like we saw in the last few

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Richie Greenberg: election cycles where the Democrat Party opposed recalling Chessup Bodine.

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Richie Greenberg: Or they, or they said, we, oppose, no, no, we support the closure of the Upper Great Highway, the Prop K. So, things like that. That's the official party line. Close the Great Highway. Opposed Chesa Bodine's recall.

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Richie Greenberg: And so what happened with Joseph Bodine? We recalled him anyway, and most people ignored what the party said.

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Richie Greenberg: Thankfully.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Sure.

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Richie Greenberg: So that's it. It's like, so why do people vote in certain… why? What is it?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: So everyone's gonna have their own reason, and their own, and sometimes it's just, how about this? Sometimes it's just random, I'm gonna vote for the woman.

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Richie Greenberg: Exactly, exactly. I was gonna say…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: And the guy who looks like me, always Indian-American? Okay, so am I. That's right.

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Richie Greenberg: Right, a woman's name. Yes. Here's someone that has a Hispanic name, a Jewish name, a whatever. And that's it. So also, that's not really… that's just… you're just… you're trying to do your civic duty again without really understanding who they are.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Exactly, and this is why I want to kind of loop this back in about why debates and forums are so important to the process, because they give you that chance, that wonderful, wonderful opportunity to be able to

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Have all that fly out the window. Say goodbye to preconceived notions and cheat sheets and, you know, identities.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: And you're listening to the person, and you're watching how they behave. Are they respectful? Are they not? Are they rolling their eyes? Do they seem prepared? All those wonderful things that you get to see on stage or on camera.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: So… I'm obviously… Take a breath. Take a breath.

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Richie Greenberg: Oh my god.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Clearly, this is why I'm such a big fan of these debates, and having people who are viable candidates get up there and… and prove

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Prove who they are against others who also want that same job. So, and we just had a recent… it's not just local! I mean, hyper-local, it's also what happened at USC recently.

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Richie Greenberg: Yep, down in Southern California, same idea, there was a arranged…

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Richie Greenberg: Candidate debate, and, their criteria, certain criteria, who's going to be invited and allowed to participate, who's not going to be allowed.

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Richie Greenberg: And the huge scandal is that using the criteria, polling, donations raised, all of that, wound up excluding.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: It was for governor of California.

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Richie Greenberg: or California.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: To be specific, yes.

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Richie Greenberg: And it, yes, and it wound up excluding

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Richie Greenberg: All the candidates that were not white.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Correct.

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Richie Greenberg: Right? Right. So, that was looked at as this tremendous, you know, wow, hysterics there. Right. And they wound up canceling the debate.

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Richie Greenberg: They canceled the bait, and…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Everybody loses. Congratulations, well done. Yeah. Right. So what do you think, Richie, would have been the answer there? Look, that's the… that's the criteria, go forth, end of story.

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Richie Greenberg: It's…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Why argue, why do anything, or have a broader, have a different way of looking at it. What do you think?

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Richie Greenberg: Well, it is really, really a tough call, because you have some… first of all, with the governor's race, there are, what is it, 4, 8, 12 of the prominent candidates? I think there's a lot more than that.

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Richie Greenberg: But these 12 or 10 that have been…

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Richie Greenberg: quoted constantly, right? On the Democrat side.

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Richie Greenberg: they're struggling against the two Republican topics, Chad Bianco and, Steve, Steve Hill.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Alton.

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Richie Greenberg: So, they're in the top, those two, the two Republicans. So, you've got this competition.

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Richie Greenberg: for who's going to really take on the Republicans, because we're getting closer and closer to the primary. There's no clear-cut, frontrunner of the Democrats, and there's a fear that they're just going to wind up canceling each other out.

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Richie Greenberg: And the two Republicans wind up going into the finals in November.

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Richie Greenberg: So, you have people who just jumped in. I don't know why, but, Betty? Betty Yee?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: What a year.

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Richie Greenberg: is polling, I think, 2%.

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Richie Greenberg: And Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, they're 16%, 14%. Even Matt Mahan is also way down there, too. They're down 2%, 3%, 4%.

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Richie Greenberg: So, do you include

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Richie Greenberg: Betty Yee, or anyone like Betty Yee, who's 2% and hasn't raised much. So, that is one of the problems, that, you know, trying to apply what we just talked about locally here…

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Richie Greenberg: for the House race, with Marie Harabiel and the other three.

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Richie Greenberg: You know, do we look at it differently? And, again, we're supposed to be looking at not…

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Richie Greenberg: From our standpoint, merit, not…

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Richie Greenberg: You know, checking the boxes on,

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Richie Greenberg: Is, is the person, African American? Are they, are they Asian? Are they, black, white? Are they, are they young, old, are they male, female, whatever. It's true. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Well-dressed, poorly dressed.

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Richie Greenberg: If you remove all of that criteria.

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Richie Greenberg: Because that's how it should be. We should look at merit, right? What have you done, and what will you do?

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Richie Greenberg: Merit is you're polling low and you didn't raise much money.

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Richie Greenberg: You see, so… so you haven't… you haven't warranted why you should be included. So, why is that okay on a governor's race level, but not okay here? So, I don't want to go, you know, drag it back to… to that, but… So, let me just also relate something.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Something.

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Richie Greenberg: There is an issue similar to this.

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Richie Greenberg: for the presidential race, I don't think it was the last one, maybe it was the one before, there were too many candidates, so they wound up having two different debate nights. The first one was for the candidates that were polling higher, and then there was the B list.

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Richie Greenberg: So those were the ones who were polling lower, because not just was it just too many, but they couldn't fit them on stage. That was a logistics problem. If you only have enough room width to have

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Richie Greenberg: you know, 8 candidates, and there were 16, you can't… you can't put 16 on stage.

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Richie Greenberg: So for time also, you can't, you know, you have to ask questions, there's not enough time to go through 16. So they did 8 and 8, for example.

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Richie Greenberg: Right.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yeah, and I agree with that. So, let's just say, Richie, you and I put on a really San Francisco

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: debate.

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Richie Greenberg: Yes, we just did, we did.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: What would… what would our criteria be?

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Richie Greenberg: for…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: We're allowing people to participate in the debate.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: What would you want?

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Richie Greenberg: Ugh, boy. I'm biased, you know, I'm biased. I am very biased against these hardcore left-wing socialist communist nutcases.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Allow them on stage?

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Richie Greenberg: Well, it's not that I won't… well, because I was actually excluded from one or two debates when I ran, because I'm the R, labeled the R candidate, right? Republican. We can't include him.

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Richie Greenberg: well, why not? I'm not a crazy right-wing person. So, others, they tried to either cancel me or exclude me.

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Richie Greenberg: So, should we do that with a far…

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Richie Greenberg: far leftist, like a Mamdani or something? Maybe, but, you know, that wouldn't work. That's not, that's not, viable, right? That's not really logical, so… But if there were a lot of candidates, and there were simply, honestly, not enough room, then I would do a second…

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Richie Greenberg: A second debate, and another night.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Okay.

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Richie Greenberg: I would do that.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: multiple debates. That would be the answer for you.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Interesting.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Interesting.

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Richie Greenberg: If it came down to that. If there were 16 or 15 candidates, and you just can't fit them on stage, and not enough time to have meaningful discourse where the questions are being answered, down the line, it just takes up too much time.

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Richie Greenberg: You see? So, that… plus there has to be something with… with polling, has to be something with… with, donations, it has to be.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yes, you know, I would, I would say get the whole donation thing out. Doesn't matter to me that, that, but maybe, maybe public support. In other words… Holding.

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Richie Greenberg: upholding?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: not necessarily even polling. It's, maybe you would… it's, it's not like…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: that person has a higher percentage of, you know, than somebody else over… I'm not saying this correctly. So, no, I wouldn't say polling. I'm just saying public… public demand. Does this person have a good voice in the community? Have they… have they been established?

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Richie Greenberg: Establish that kind of thing.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yeah.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That would be rough.

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Richie Greenberg: Are there roots?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Are there rooms, yeah.

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Richie Greenberg: Right, and what that would do is that would prevent people who are, like, carpetbaggers, right? The ones who just moved to San Francisco 3 months ago.

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Richie Greenberg: Right. And they register to vote here, so they're, they're entitled to. I mean, it depends on the office, right? But, yeah, so they just moved here, and now they're running for, they're running for mayor, they're running.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That's right.

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Richie Greenberg: Supervisor, or whatever.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Well, let's just say it's the Board of Education, right? You should have children. How about that, right? Most people who are on the Board of Education do not have children, and they use it… Correct, and they use it as a stepping stone.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: So there's… there's ways, I think, and so that would filter out people who are who…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: are… would be running who may not be worthy of time. So, I think there's all different ways that you can create a debate or a forum that is fair and exciting, but most importantly.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: That's informative, that's going to help.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: people who are voting, because otherwise, it does feel like sometimes, I don't know, I'll just kind of pick this person, right?

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

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Richie Greenberg: Yeah. And…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: And that's what we don't want.

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Richie Greenberg: I totally agree, and I think that that's a good point to close our podcast episode today. And we really hope that we, Eric and I, have been an influence

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Richie Greenberg: A positive influence and an inspiration for you and listeners and watchers.

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Richie Greenberg: That try and make some kind of effort

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Richie Greenberg: To get to know who the candidates are.

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Richie Greenberg: And realize that there are people out there that are really genuinely concerned for our community, and for our well-being.

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Richie Greenberg: And… I hate to say this, but…

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Richie Greenberg: everything is not about Trump. Don't run on a… listen to people, everything they just make about, well, we're gonna be fighting Trump. No, there are so many other things that are not caused by him.

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Richie Greenberg: That are locally caused.

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Richie Greenberg: Learn about the issues, and learn about what each of the different candidates is trying to say they would like to do about it.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Oh, okay, well, one last thing. One last thing!

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: about the importance of the people who would participate in these debates is I would automatically be highly suspicious to the point of, I would not vote for this person if they refuse to be on a debate stage that is hosted by what they might consider a hostile

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: environment. Oh, I wouldn't go with KQED because they're too liberal for me, or I wouldn't go for Fox News because they're too, they're too…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Conservative. That, to me, like, if the candidate is already starting to sift through who they speak with, that is so important.

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Richie Greenberg: Good point.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Right? So let's also keep that, you know, I really respect something like Marie, who would… you know, Marie's on the conservative side, she just is. She's a nouveau Democrat, but… Yeah, yeah.

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Richie Greenberg: Blue Dog Democrat activism. Right, right.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: But going into KQED, it would have been a… I don't know if it would have been hostile, but it's certainly… it's not the sharks she would be normally swimming with. So, let's think about that. These need to be open and exciting, too. So, let's cheers

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Said to you.

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Richie Greenberg: And really…

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: to the weekend!

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Richie Greenberg: weekend, and, everybody, have a great, Friday, rest of the weekend, and we look forward to another episode with you soon.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Absolutely. Cheers, everyone.

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Erica Jennifer Sandberg: Nicely done.

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Richie Greenberg: Alright, stop real.