WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris spoke slowly but bluntly as she stared at Joe Biden, then began treating him as a hostile witness. The former prosecutor turned California senator started by saying she didn't think the former vice president was racist. But she criticized him for recently defending having worked with segregationists in...
2020 Democrats Grapple With California's Electoral Buzz Saw
SAN FRANCISCO — Democratic presidential candidates are confronting the Democratic National Committee's tough standards to get on the debate stage, trying to distinguish themselves from their many rivals and plotting how to win the critical four early voting states. That leaves them barely enough time to think about what comes next: California. The Golden...
There’s a Tobacco Ban Proposed in Beverly Hills. Residents Are Lit.
BEVERLY HILLS — A fiery debate is breaking out across Beverly Hills as people at tony hair salons, gas stations and stores weigh in on whether the city of the rich and famous should become the first in the U.S. to outlaw the sale of tobacco products everywhere except a...
Private Colleges Wary as Cal Legislator Calls for Crackdown on Legacy Admits
The nationwide scandal involving bribery in college admissions has also illuminated all the legal ways wealthy families can game the system. Now the debate over how to respond has hit the California Legislature, and struck a nerve not just with the state's public higher education system but also with private...
Walters: Both Abortion Factions Try to Silence Opponents
Abortion is a divisive moral and political issue that generates ceaseless heated debate, as it should. However, it also entices those who feel passionately about it, one way or the other, to use politics to shut down the other side. We saw a prime example of that in the California...
House Broadly Condemns Hate After Anti-Semitism Dispute
WASHINGTON — Divided in debate but mostly united in a final vote, the House passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other bigotry Thursday, with Democrats trying to push past a dispute that has overwhelmed their agenda and exposed fault lines that could dog them through elections next year. The one-sided...
Trump the Pundit Handicaps 2020 Democratic Contenders
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Kamala Harris had the best campaign roll-out. Amy Klobuchar's snowy debut showed grit. Elizabeth Warren's opening campaign video was a bit odd. Take it from an unlikely armchair pundit sizing up the 2020 Democratic field: President Donald Trump. In tweets, public remarks and private conversations,...
Who Chooses Abortion? More Women Than You Might Think.
The abortion debate is at the center of U.S. political dialogue. As of June 2018, 49 percent of Americans consider themselves pro-choice, while 45 percent consider themselves pro-life. Voices from both sides flood social media feeds, while newspapers, radio and television programs frequently cover the topic. Since 2011, politicians have...
How Democrats Help the Right Stifle Debate on Israel
As Congress tries to push through a budget to keep the government open, some members are concerned that the gravest threat facing the country, one that simply must be addressed immediately, is that some Americans might choose not to buy Israeli products. In the process, the perfectly legitimate idea of...
Nothing Certain on the Eve of First Trump-Era Elections
WASHINGTON — The day of reckoning for American politics has nearly arrived. Voters on Tuesday will decide the $5 billion debate between President Donald Trump's take-no-prisoner politics and the Democratic Party's super-charged campaign to end the GOP's monopoly in Washington and statehouses across the nation. There are indications that an oft-discussed "blue...