The basic indifference that made this country great
By 
Seeing the Democratic candidates use underprepared vanity candidate Steve Garvey as a punchline is comedy gold:
Over the course of the 90-minute debate at the University of Southern California, Garvey struggled to provide details of his policy ideas, was repeatedly laughed at by people in the audience and saw himself ganged up on by his Democratic rivals: Democratic Reps. Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff.
One of the tensest exchanges of the night came when the three Democrats all pressed Garvey to say whether he’ll vote for former President Donald Trump a third time.
Garvey repeatedly refused to answer, saying he would decide before election day. “At that time, I will make my choice.”
Porter retorted with a zinger: “What they say is true: Once a Dodger, always a Dodger,” she said as the audience howled. “This is not the minor leagues. Who will you vote for?”
Another brutal moment came as Garvey responded to a question about his plan to address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis. Garvey, a first-time candidate, described how he approached unhoused people and “touched them and listened to them.”
He suggested he was the only candidate to approach the issue that way because his opponents are “career politicians” who’ve done nothing to solve the crisis.
Lee, who was unhoused decades ago after she left an abusive relationship as a young single mother, called Garvey’s comment about meeting and touching homeless people belittling. “I’ve just gotta say, as someone who’s been unsheltered, I cannot believe how he described his walk and touching,” she said. The audience burst into laughter.
Schiff couldn’t resist piling on: “This will be my one and only baseball analogy for the evening: Mr. Garvey, that was a total swing and a miss — that was a total whiff of an answer.”
There were also Garvey’s puzzling answers to policy questions. When moderator and POLITICO reporter Melanie Mason asked Garvey to explain why he’s running if he doesn’t have many policy positions, he gave a vague answer.
“I knew I needed to explore California. I needed to talk to the people,” Garvey said. “Policy for me is a position. I’ve taken strong positions.”
He then rattled off a host of general views: “Let’s get back to energy.” “Let’s close the border.” “Let’s enforce crime, crime on the streets. Let’s fund the police.”
“We must energy our police. We must crime our streets. We must get back to exploring Californians. Now vote for me, you middle-class honkies. Or at least meet me at the lounge of the Hollywood Hyatt after the rally.”