Politics-The Day After Michigan

We examine the fallout from the Michigan Democratic Senate and  Congressional primaries.  We check on the status of the  Los Angeles mayor's race.

Transcript

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 0:00

Welcome to another episode of Inside Golden State Politics. I'm Bill Boyarsky, the former city editor and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and with me is our producer director, Nancy Boyarsky

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 0:15

And I'm Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, analyst and self-styled media maven, coming to you from back in the groove after a well-deserved one-week hiatus. And the world is not looking any better. Here we are careening faster and faster toward elections that appear to be more and more existential. I can't away from that, even if only for a few days. guess I'll just have to fasten my seatbelt and go. It's gonna be a bumpy months. Over to you, Bill

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 0:59

Started off in a very exciting fashion on election night in Michigan when Abdul El-Sayed defeated narrowly Representative Haley Stevens,

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 1:12

Very Narrowly

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 1:13

who was the establishment choice. He won, and he is the Democratic nominee for United States Senate and that is going to be a very close contest. There were some things that were noteworthy though that should be commented on, El-Sayed and the congresswoman both pledged after the election to support each other and, not to continue their fierce battle forever. But there's something that should be commented on, and that is the influence of, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, which is a very pro-Israel outfit, which put in $30 million, I believe, Sherry, isn't it?

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 1:58

At least

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 1:59

At least on behalf of the congresswoman's campaign. It didn't give them the election. It may have even damaged him. But what it might have done is left a legacy of hard feelings and a reminder that they're gonna continue their campaign and raise at least another $30 million for the Republican who is going to be opposing El-Sayed.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 2:24

Former Congressperson Rogers, Mr. Rogers, as I like to call him who was defeated in a run for Senate, I guess two years ago by Senator Slotkin with a narrow loss. And so now that state is looking for the Senate race in any case, as a toss-up. Vis-a-vis your remark about money, Bill, how many times have I said this, and I still believe it. Remember this, earlier in the campaign, El-Sayed was maintaining a... According to the polls, and we're gonna have to get into that in a minute, but according to the polls, he was maintaining a double-digit lead. it's-- I think right now the victory was about a 1% He was outspent Haley Stevens eight to one, only goes, as far as I'm concerned, to show you that it's better to have money than not to have money, but it is not definitive. Money alone doesn't buy It can't. There's got... There are other factors involved, including the candidate, and the opponent, and the message, and the campaign. All of that came into play. I have a friend who when it became clear that El-Sayed was going to win, not yet by so little, but he was going to win, who said that, "If Sayed won, would then throw money into the campaign the Republican that's how much a candidate's stance on Israel to a powerful interest group. is also, I think, a reflection of how much not supporting Israel in Gaza means to a significant faction of the Democratic base

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 4:44

A huge amount of money that AIPAC spent for the losing candidate is gonna... as I said is going to reverberate, and it's just not-- It's more than money. It reaches, touches on antisemitism.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 5:00

Yeah

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 5:00

on people saying, why are the Jews why is AIPAC supporting a group of people and putting our treasure into a group of people who are not even our friends? What's going on?" I think it's gonna have to work its way out, but

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 5:18

I'm not sure it will

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 5:19

I think what's happening, and what scares me, is this involvement of AIPAC in this election to such a great extent, is hearkening back into the deepest, the ugliest parts of American politics p- and American political life. And that is the era of, and it's for-for-forgotten by a lot of people today, but the era of antisemitism, the era where influential radio evangelists, Gerald LK Smith and Father Coughlin, wielded great influence with their radio programs, which were widely heard in the Midwest and had a, a tremendous influence, in the elections in the late '30s and early '40s. It was a dark chapter in our country, and it worries me

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 6:18

It worries me too. And what worries me more than anything else is there is no such group as the Jews. There are Jews who are pro-Israel, pro-Zionism, and there are Jews who are not so tensely loyal to Israel, who are not so tensely Zionist. And it, even more than what Coughlin and Smith represent, I worry this casual but very purposeful use of the label communist. And, that's often conflated with Jew. It was in the '40s and the '50s under any circumstance. I worry about that being, An instigator significant antisemitism as much as anything else. Right now, it is very interesting to see AIPAC is of the new major villains in this campaign. But, they have been throwing money at candidates they like forever. The difference is, I think, that what is going on with Netanyahu, what is going on in Gaza, extremely visible. And people who are in public office or running for public office, and voters themselves are beginning decide where they stand on the issue of Israel and Now, El-Sayed has called what is going on in Gaza Stevens never moved from her full support of Israel. And I have to tell you, that's gonna be a major problem, I think, for Democrats moving toward the general election. It's a split within the party

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 8:29

The idea that the Republicans are trying to convey in their first round of commercials, which are appearing right now that there's a communist conspiracy, communist Jewish conspiracy.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 8:46

Are they using those words?

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 8:47

No, they're not. They're using the word communist and if you go back into history, which you have to do to understand this whole situation In the witch hunt days of the late '30s and early '40s, in the McCarthy era of the '50s the word communist and the word Jew were interchangeable really.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:12

Yeah

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:12

the anti-Semitic feelings of the McCarthy, of the anti-communist people were intense and spread around. And there was a feeling in the country of anti-Semitism. There was always an undertone of anti-Semitism about American life, I think, although

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:32

What does that mean? What are you saying?

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:34

Friends of mine told me, tell me I'm wrong, but I don't think so. But there's an undertone

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:41

Tell me, there has always been

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:43

There's two

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:44

What does that mean for, to you?

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 9:46

What it means to me is that I was always conscious of being a Jew. Now, it wasn't a hateful experience. I went to a kind of a high school where there were very few Jews, and it w- it was not an issue. And I think it was, might have very well have been the same with you. I don't know.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 10:06

Certain points in my education, yeah.. Where I lived and where I went to school, because of where I lived, there were a few Jews. Very, we were definitely a minority. And once in a while I'd be faced with a little bit of antisemitism, including the time that one of my classmates, who had a major crush on me as a matter of fact, but who wasn't Jewish, came to me and said, "My mother tells me that if you get B, get beaten." "No," I said, "My father has always said, 'Do the best you can.'" the last I heard from that kid.

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 10:51

Yeah

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 10:52

It's been around a while, but I think that hit the nail right on the head when you began to start talking about McCarthyism. I wish we were visual. I just found one of my favorite political cartoons of this week, and it is a cartoon of the upper of Donald Trump wearing a red hat which says, "Make McCarthyism great again." where I think we are

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 11:28

This is coming at a particularly tense time in American life. This rhetoric, this viciousness is going to affect not only Jews not only strongly pro-Israel Jews, it's going to impact a very large population in our life, the Islamic population, Islamic Americans, who are increasingly finding themselves under attack from from people who are anti-Islam you have the Jews, and then you, have the Muslims both under attack in a era that seems to be extremely explosive. And I don't wanna blame Trump for everything, but he certainly has created an atmosphere that

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 12:19

Agreed

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 12:20

encourages this kind of tenseness, this kind of readiness to fight that we're experienced right now

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 12:28

Not only Trump, but his movement, MAGA. I think the evangel-angelists that you talked about, basically, if you think about it, were the MAGA of their day, and here we are again. is a leader, or there has been a leader of that cult, which I believe it is and his name is Donald Trump. This atmosphere, this environment, this political environment today is such that if it doesn't basically influence the growth of the movement, it certainly began to influence its ability to grow. It's I don't know. Can't tell you how frustrated, disappointed disgusted about where I see American politics heading, at least in the near future, and maybe longer than that. It's ugly, ugly

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 13:33

And the visible signs of it are in the defacing of religious institutions, Defacing of synagogues widespread, increasingly widespread. You see them all around the country. This was, this was very rare just a few years ago

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 13:50

Yeah, just yeah.

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 13:51

É, e eu

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 13:52

it again, it's nothing new

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 13:54

Nothing new, but it

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 13:56

in the history of the world, let alone the United States. It is ugly, and it's again, that's what, that is absolutely destroys my hope for much of a change for the better, at least for a while. I'm not sure that putting a brake on Donald Trump by flipping at least one house of Congress make that much of a difference at this point. Yeah, and I don't, I haven't come up with a solution, guess that's part of my frustration too. I don't know. You have... Are you a little bit more optimistic than I am? And I'm only getting more and more pessimistic to boot. Are you?

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 14:43

No, I'm not because of the injection of this poison into our political discourse. And the support for AIPAC and for its very hard line on Gaza is became more and more intense. And way the dialogue was going, and this is what really scares me, y- you're talking about attacking the Jews for their aggression in Gaza and it's leaves the Jews who are opposed to that, Je- the Jews who favor a moderate two-state solution.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 15:21

Disagree there. I don't think there is a solution. This has been going on

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 15:24

Yeah, but I know we don't-- But there is one out on per- forever out on the table

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 15:30

Isaac and Ishmael, and that's a long time ago. There ain't no solution, I've decided. But that doesn't mean much in terms of the most immediate movement candidates, particularly Democratic candidates, on the issue Israel and Gaza. And I think right now for this election, AIPAC is an albatross around the neck of many candidates who never even thought it would have this much of an impact where you stand on the issue of Israel and Gaza. thought it would mean the p- the real possibility that you could lose simply because of your stance, whatever it is, on Israel. It's crazy. Totally crazy

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 16:29

It means that if you don't follow the AIPAC line on, on Israel you're gonna be a target of the AIPAC multi-multi-million dollar attack. What does that do to our political dialogue? One thing it does is

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 16:46

What political dialogue?

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 16:48

It injects the whole subject of race and antisemitism and all of that into what should be- an intelligent discussion of where we're going.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 17:00

I haven't heard the word intelligence being used to describe our political discussion in a very long time, Bill. Think about that. Yeah, I don't know. I just don't know. Whatever wins, wins, and people will adapt a winning meme, if you will. Thinking about, I think for now, let's see what happens as the primary season moves along. I like to point out the fact that here we are and here we are inside Golden State Politics and all the national media and all the, the local media. Did you know that there's a campaign for LA mayor going on? Did you know that there's a campaign for California governor going on? Did you know that El-Sayed's victory a progressive over the establishment a victory in one, one campaign, although I will admit a very critical campaign if wanna take control of the Senate. But wow, I'm sorry. Californians in many ways are being shortchanged by all of this.

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 18:19

That happens especially when something as strong and powerful as the election results in in, in Michigan showed. Wh-when that happens, people's attention are gonna be transfixed by that. Adding to that is i- is cable television news, which Has a very short attention span and fastens in on something. And this is what they're, in on the Michigan election a few weeks ago and haven't given it up and are continuing on today.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 18:51

And again more and more

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 18:53

As a result, probably one of the most important elections in facing us for mayor of Los Angeles is being forgotten

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 19:02

To be sure and I know i- it's a city, but it's a big city, it's an important city, and its citizens ought to know a little bit more about where race is, where the campaign is for mayor of the city of Los Angeles. Let's bring ourselves up to speed. Where are we? Where are the candidates for mayor? It's been extremely quiet. It's getting to be a little louder now, and I think it's because of the fire in the food warehouse in Boyle Heights and the skepticism that some LA voters have Mayor Bass's involvement, and it... I think in addition to which the whole brings back memories of the Palisades fire, and we all have to agree that was not her finest hour

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:03

No, fires are not her friend.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:06

You're right.

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:08

Not at all. This fire in a food storage plant in Boyle Heights showed so much about the city. In the first place, why was it given permission to build there? This was... Boyle Heights was a residential area. Who gave permission?

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:25

It wasn't this

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:26

far away city, far past city council did, for payment of some campaign contribution, whatever.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:33

Than that, it's a Latino area and

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:38

It's Latino area. It's vulnerable. It's where they built all the freeways.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:44

You bet

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:45

The freeways sliced up what had been a residential area into little,

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 20:50

there already been an oil spill in East LA. Coincidence? I don't know, but I have my own ideas. Not purposeful, but not a coincidence that two major disasters occurred in that geographical and political area

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 21:08

You know what I would have liked the mayor to do? I would have liked the mayor to get in her car and driven down to the site of this abortion of a of a storage facility and say, "I'm closing it down." And somebody would say,

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 21:28

Period you mean?

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 21:29

Yeah, I'm closing. I'm closing it, I'm closing it down." Now, there's gonna be some jerk who'd say, "You don't have the power to close it down." And then there'd be some soft-headed e-editorial writer who would say, "Oh, that's exceeding the mayor's power" and all of that. If I were her, I'd just go there. I'd stand in front of the damn thing and say, "I want it closed down now," and see what happens. Now, I don't know what would happen 'cause she didn't do that. But what it would do was point, would point out to the community, the residents of Boyle Heights long neglected, that the mayor is in their corner fighting for them, sticking her neck out and taking a stand, and that would be a very important thing. Secondly, it would put incredible pressure on the bureaucracy and on the storage company to do something.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 22:29

Maybe

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 22:30

And maybe, but you don't know,

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 22:33

We try

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 22:33

you don't know till you try. See that's my, I always go back to the Riordan playbook. You don't know till you try. And and being mayor isn't just, having a meeting s- talking about it and having a, getting a committee. It's personal leadership. And that's true of any executive office. Being mayor of Los Angeles is a purely, it's an executive office. It's like being president. It's like being a general in the war. You're in charge. So I was surprised. I was I was disappointed that she's been reasonable.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 23:11

That's g- her style of leadership has been to be reasonable, to be it's not And one of the, one of the criticisms I've heard is that ultimately she'll move, and she's moved a little by demanding a moratorium on the stopping the the rebuilding permits, demanding an audit to a halt for a while, of any kind of a permit, building permit for this kind of a company forever. But she just did it, it's been a while since the fire happened she's perceived, even when she does what she needs to do, a long time to do it,

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 24:00

Yeah, she hangs back and and she just doesn't seem to take charge of these matters that really require leadership.- Leadership being an intangible thing. Being governor, being mayor, being president

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 24:18

It also has to do with what the law and the Constitution and the city codes say, if you care about it, what that leader, the mayor, the governor, the president, are allowed to do. That's, a problem

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 24:33

that's

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 24:33

so many politicians. Come on. Unless you're Donald Trump and you just say forget about it and do executive orders, and she has been doing executive orders, but I'm not supporting the fact that we haven't gone far or fast enough in solving many of our problems and including homelessness and affordable housing. But, the political obstacles, and maybe we need to look at that too, the perspective that people have on governmental decision-making and how government works has to be worked on

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 25:15

What about what I said? W- what about her just going in there and doing it

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 25:20

Can she? Does she want to? Is that her style

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 25:21

Way it's done in City Hall now you don't do that. What you do is call the city attorney, who gives you an incomprehensible analysis of why you can't do something. The city attorney is the Dr. No of City Hall and you follow those instructions and you say I can't do anything. The city attorney says," you've got to... That, that's not enough, and it's not enough right now. And w- what's happened to her, and it's all these tragedies have one after the other kind of melt into each other. So you had

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:01

creates a perception, you're right

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:02

the Palisades fire, and then homes were slowly being rebuilt, and then you had this warehouse fire in Boyle Heights in the most forgotten, part of the city that's always been abused. It's... And here she is. She's supposed to be the liberal mayor. That's what... she's the liberal progressive mayor

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:27

Progressive? Yeah. What's the difference? I can't

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:29

I don't know.

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:30

out

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:30

I can't... But she's supposed to be the progressive mayor. She should just take the bull by the horns and go ahead. Now, what would happen to her is she'd be criticized for that. She'd be under fire. But good. That's good. Let her be under fire. Let her be out there and just

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:53

Fight me.

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:54

Do it. Do it and then ask,

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:55

Don't you think

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:56

answer your questions later, huh?

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 26:58

Don't you think it's interesting that nobody's talking about the way she stood up to Trump when he sent the goons in on the ICE raids? It's like it never happened, and remembers it. What's going on? Shouldn't that be, oh, shall we say a response to the criticism of her in her responses to the Palisades fire the Boyle Heights fire? I find it fascinating, and That focuses us once again her ability or inability to effectively communicate with the citizens of L- LA, and the question, what's the role of the media in all of this?

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 27:49

I think the media has been very soft on her. N-not soft, but ignoring her not pursuing, not finding out what's going on there. H- her whole communications section of her administration, which is pretty important, has gone and they're left. W- where'd they go?

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 28:07

There's been turnover,

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 28:09

It's a great turnover. Why don't why am I not reading about that in the LA Times? What's, what's-

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 28:15

in a while you will, but there's been... maybe there's a, a decision that there really isn't a need for anything more than spelling it out. Whoever is leaving has left, and with it. I find one of the very interesting dynamics in the Boyle Heights story is that a, a former unofficial unpaid advisor to Mayor Bass actually works for Lineage, which is the owner, the manager of the facility burned and is taking forever to get cleaned up. That's not good for her. one of the nasty perceptions that will not help her

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 29:04

And it's bad for the city why have a mayor? We don't, do- we don't need somebody who doesn't take charge. Look it Sherry let's go into this next week. We'll have-

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 29:16

We will. We haven't even, touched

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 29:18

even talk about the governor's race, which is

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 29:20

we didn't talk about the governor's race, and we still haven't really dug deeply into both of the candidates for LA mayor and what may be helping one or hurting one both. We'll have time, believe me, even though it's only three months. we focus, we can s- push through this and maybe come... I doubt we'll come to any real conclusions, but maybe come to a better understanding of the mess that we were in, we are in A city, a state, as a, and the country

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 29:57

Maybe we can give people a little guidance. Lookit, we'll talk to you next week

squadcaster-7896_2_08-05-2026_145913 30:02

Right. All right, everybody. We'll see you next week. Cheers.

host-4ha0_2_08-05-2026_145913 30:08

Goodbye