California’s Senate campaign is in its last innings. Where in the heck is Steve Garvey? | Opinion
There are only two months to go until the election — just one month before ballots drop — and except for a smattering of yard signs and pleas for donations, you would hardly know a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat is underway in California.
Where are the glossy mailers? The TV ads? The volunteers knocking on doors?
More to the point, where are the candidates?
We haven’t heard much from Democrat Adam Schiff since mid-July, when he urged President Joe Biden to give up his reelection bid. (Good call, Adam.)
The GOP candidate, retired baseball star Steve Garvey, has been even more elusive. He’s rarely been seen on the campaign trail, though he did make statewide news in July when he traveled to Israel — a trip paid for by his campaign.
It was a fact-finding mission for Garvey, who is a strong supporter of Israel.
“I wanted to go to be able to talk about it with a deeper sense (of authority),” he told the Los Angeles Times.
‘Steve, your campaign is like T-ball’
That’s all well and good, except Garvey’s fans right here in California also want a piece of him, judging by their posts on X. Here are some of their comments, with light editing:
- “Steve, your campaign is like T-ball, not much action. Step it up like it’s game 7 of the World Series or you’re going to lose. Play to win.”
- Campaign like it’s game 7 of the World Series. ... Get out in public with real citizens and make some noise! Hint: Getting @realDonaldTrump endorsement could get you a win.”
- “Why are there no TV ads and a full court press to beat Adam Schiff? He’s such a liar, we need don’t need him representing us, but I haven’t seen a single ad/debate or any effort at all to get people out for Garvey. I’m in the Los Angeles market. Please explain this.”
- “You have 20 points to make up and this calm, ambiguous, narrative talk isn’t going to do it. The only reason you’ve gotten this far is because people despise Schiff. Do better!!”
These are his own people clamoring for him — not some group of hostile progressives — so why not show them a little love? it’s not as though Garvey doesn’t have any money to put on a show or two; he had raised nearly $11 million as of the last filing period in July.
Garvey tries to woo moderates
So what’s up? Is Garvey giving up, or is he planning some major offensive play late in the campaign?
Or maybe he’s angling for an endorsement from Donald Trump, as one of his supporters suggested?
That seems unlikely. Garvey has yet to fully bend the knee to Trump, though he made it clear that he was leaning toward voting for him during an interview with KBAK-KBFX Eyewitness News out of Bakersfield.
“You take a look at the two candidates,” he said then, “which one is going to better serve the quality of life for our families, for our future, for our grandparents? President Trump has a history. What did he do during those four years? Were we better off four years ago, under his presidency? .... So I’ll make the decision when the time comes. I voted for him twice. I’m going to vote for him again under the circumstances right now.”
That’s typical of the policy statements Garvey has made since he announced his campaign last October. He tries so hard to come across as a moderate — someone who might appeal to the more conservative Democrats and independents — that he avoids taking a definitive stand on just about every issue.
That was his game plan for the debates that were held before the March primary, and he hasn’t deviated.
By the way, don’t expect any more debates. Schiff’s campaign staff said he’s open to the idea and has spoken about it publicly, but nothing has materialized.
Multiple efforts to reach Garvey’s campaign staff were unsuccessful.
The real race was in March
Granted, Garvey is in a tight spot; it’s not easy running for statewide office as a Republican in California, where 46% of registered voters are Democrats and 25% are Republicans — a 21-point spread.
That nearly matches results from a Berkeley/L.A. Times poll released in August: Schiff led with 53%, Garvey had 33%, while 14% of likely voters were undecided.
Barring some truly catastrophic unforeseen circumstance, that won’t change much and Schiff will run away with it, which was his plan all along.
This election was practically over in March, when a trio of well-known congressional Democrats were on the primary ballot: Rep. Schiff, Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Katie Porter.
In what many saw as a Machiavellian move, Schiff helped catapult Garvey into second place by running ads casting him as a strong MAGA candidate who actually had a chance of becoming California’s next senator.
It worked. Republicans rallied around Garvey and Democrats split the vote between their three candidates. Porter and Lee were knocked out of the race, and we’re left with a contest between a political alpha dog and an underdog.
Yet Garvey still has something to gain.
A respectable showing at the polls could breathe life into California’s moribund Republican Party, which has all but given up on finding viable candidates who have at least an outside chance of winning statewide positions.
So get off the bench, Steve Garvey.
If you truly want to be a senator, it’s time to play ball.
This story was originally published September 6, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California’s Senate campaign is in its last innings. Where in the heck is Steve Garvey? | Opinion."
