Inside Golden State Politics

When is a ballot drop box not a ballot drop box?  We dig into the controversy over Republicans distributing their own unofficial drop boxes and examine other potholes on the rocky road to election day.  We also explain some of the propositions on the California ballot with a special guest, Robert Stern, a respected elections lawyer, a co author of the state political reform act and the longtime pr...

We take apart the Pence-Harris debate, concluding Sen. Kamala Harris did well in the high-pressure competition.  Vice President Mike Pence tried to defend President Trump and his record.  But he found it rough going.     And we look at some  possible choices for Gov. Gavin Newsom to make to fill Harris' Senate seat if  the Democrats win the presidency.

We dig into the mire of the Tump-Biden debate and look beyond it. We try to shed light on the little known, except in presidential election years, Commission on Presidential Debates. Do the candidates have follow its arcane rules? Finally, what if the election results in a contested, razor thin victory margin?  We conclude with the election officials' prayer: "Let there be a landslide.&q...

We look at Donald Trump's drive to a   6-3 Supreme Court that could give him the presidency in a contested election. Among the major Democrats working to derail his drive are California senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein.

We critique the meeting between Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump on the wildfires.  And we examine the factor of fear in the election campaign--fear of fires, floods and climate change, fear of the pandemic and fear of violence provoked by protesters and police.

What's the impact of all the Trump books?  We examine whether anyone other than politics addicts care when so many Americans are busy worrying about the pandemic.  We also look at how Joe Biden is handling his media face off against Donald Trump,  Most important, there's growing concern over counting the vote. In California, extensive preparations didn't  prevent long lines in the p...

What a week!  On the presidential campaign, Joe Biden emerges from his basement and attacks President Donald Trump as gutless.  And the California legislature is shamed by a nursing mother, Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, bringing her baby onto the Assembly floor to urge her colleagues to vote on an important housing bill.

We look at Donald Trump's efforts to put a smiley face on the Republican National Convention but he and his team found it hard to do.  The convention previewed Trump's attacks on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the coming campaign.  And we explain why the Republicans  picked California as their symbol of what's wrong with the United States.

We assess the importance of women to Joe Biden's presidential campaign, as exemplified by Michelle Obama's speech to the Democratic national convention and Kamala Harris' nomination for vice president.   Will the campaigning by strong women drive  President Donald Trump nuts?  And we tackle voting by mail.  Will President Trump's loud and persistent attacks on it make Americans...

We take a close look at Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Joe Biden's choice for the Democratic vice presidential nomination.  What does she bring to the ticket?  Will the Democratic left,  which opposed her presidential run, turn out en masse for her.  And we examine where President Donald Trump and his supporters will attack her.  Looking ahead, we discuss her successor if she wins in Novem...

The final months of the presidential campaign are confronting journalists with big problems in covering candidates, campaigns, and the new style nominating conventions.  We explore that with our guest, award-winning television political reporter Dave Bryan.  We also challenge the media to be educators as well as reporters and to guide a confused public through vote counting that may take many days...

We take a hard look at how President Trump is stacking the deck against Asian Americans and Latinos.  Asian Americans are damaged by his racist description of the coronavirus pandemic, giving  bigots permission to assault them verbally and, in some cases, physically.  With Latinos, it's Trump's mishandling of the pandemic, which is roaring through the agricultural Central Valley and othe...

The coronavirus pandemic has confronted Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump with different  kinds of troubles.  We examine how Newsom faces the  hands-on matters that Trump has long avoided--opening schools, finding masks and other supplies, rising infection rates.  Trump's problem is simpler but harder to solve, getting re-elected.  That is why, we observe, he is now portraying hims...

As the school semester grows near, we discuss  whether to open the schools or rely on home schooling, often in the hands of overworked  parents.    This is bigger than political campaigns.  Each day, the pressure increases on Gov. Gavin Newsom,  his good start in handling the pandemic forgotten as the number of coronavirus cases rapidly increase.  And the worsening situation is shaping the contest...

 Sherry digs into the labyrinth of the electoral college, explaining its history and the role of slavery in its creation. We debate the future of the institution, with Bill more optimistic than  Sherry about chances of eliminating it.  We also examine how the pandemic is sweeping through California,  concluding this is a disease  too new and complex for politicians from Gov. Gavin Newsom on down t...

Did Gov. Gavin Newsom dig himself into a hole by first embracing strong enforcement of coronavirus regulations, then easing  up, and finally reversing himself?  We examine the twists and turns of the governor's decision making.  We also wonder whether President Donald Trump has dug himself into an even deeper hole with his promise that the coronavirus will just go away.  And we warn readers a...

We dissect President Donald Trump's erratic, inflammatory return to the campaign trail amid rising numbers of coronavirus victims and polls showing he faces a tough re-election fight.  We also handicap the competition for the Democratic vice presidential nomination and take a close look at a new California contender, Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles.

Where have Latinos gone in the raging controversy over police misconduct? Why is the issue usually framed in terms of black and white ethnicities? Bill and Sherry tackle the subject against a backdrop of police killings of African American men.  They also examine the U.S. Supreme Court decision on employment rights of the LGBTQ community and disagree over the quality of Joe Biden's recent big...

Were the police too rough with demonstrators protesting the death of  George Floyd?  Bill and Sherry zero in on the Los Angeles Police Department for a discussion of this controversial subject.  They want to know who was responsible for the LAPD tactics used against the demonstrators and  they ask about the roles of Mayor Eric Garcetti and Police Chief Michel Moore in deploying the cops. And they...

Bill and Sherry debate the pace and reality of change demanded by protesters in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police.  They also discuss one of the most significant developments in American politics, the emergence of a strong new generation of African American women mayors. And they look at the controversy over increasing the Los Angeles Police Department budget.

Bill and Sherry explore President Donald Trump's potent weapon, disruption, throwing the bright shiny object into the national debate to take attention away from the rising coronavirus toll and a distressed economy.  His targets include vote by mail and Joe Scarborough.  We also reach into California history for reasons why some Californians are resistant to masks and sheltering in place.

Bill and Sherry wonder if Governor Gavin Newsom is being politically smart--or gutless--in cutting education to help make up the $54 billion state budget deficit.   They question whether the media is digging up the full story on state finances.  And they examine how the media, locked in the past, isn't up to the challenge of covering a presidential campaign when President Trump and pandemic i...

Bill and Sherry explore the immediate and long-term damage caused by Gov. Gavin Newsom's  $54 billion in California state budget cuts--a result of the stubborn coronavirus pandemic.  We also look at how President Donald Trump is reacting to the pandemic numbers.   Not well, judging from his reaction when reporters ask about them.  But he was upbeat about the Republican victory in the northern...

Bill  and Sherry explore whether Gov. Gavin Newsom is caving in to rebels against his shelter-at-home policy.  The podcasters disagree over Joe Biden's   campaign strategy.  Sherry favors Biden laying back, a version of the great heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope, where he waited against the ropes until his opponent punched himself into exhaustion.  Bill said Biden s...

Bill and Sherry examine the difficult job of tracing those exposed to the coronavirus.  They take a hard look at how Gov. Gavin Newsom is handling the challenge of the pandemic.  They also discuss how testing for the virus is focusing attention on the poverty and inadequate health care among African Americans and Latinos in California.