Let’s Have Some Meat in Debates

The first gubernatorial debate between Republican Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and Democratic Lt. Gov. Gray Davis was a sorry affair. Let’s hope they do a better job during their second encounter, in Fresno tonight.

The meeting in San Diego July 31 was dominated by largely irrelevant and inane attempts at “gotcha” politics, each candidate trying to catch the other off guard with some obscure fact unearthed by opposition research sleuths.

Lungren offered a meaningless procedural vote by Davis in the Assembly 15 years ago as evidence that Davis really wasn’t as big a backer of the death penalty as he claimed to be. Davis responded with the nonsensical statement that Singapore was a good starting point for a strict California anti-crime program.

Then the candidates engaged in a useless exchange over who had visited Mexico the most. Presumably the basis was that it’s a good idea for a governor of California to cultivate cordial relations with Mexico. But we never really found out just how either candidate would accomplish that. Their discussions on other issues such as education and abortion were similarly lacking in substance.

What should we expect tonight? Fresno is in the heart of California’s farm-rich San Joaquin Valley, and it’s safe to assume agriculture and water development will be central issues. We do not need a protracted argument, however, over which candidate has gotten more mud on his boots tramping through the loamy soil or speeches about how important agribusiness is to California. We know it is.

Let’s have some real talk about dealing with the loss of farmland to development and encroaching suburbanism. Do we need stronger statewide planning measures? Should farmers get more subsidies so they can keep their lands in production rather than selling to developers? If farmers are to get more water, who should pay for it, the farmers or taxpayers?

There will be three more debates after tonight. But the San Diego affair demonstrated how easily the time can be wasted. The candidates should make every minute count from now on.