Steve Garvey got a walk.
Katie Porter is screaming foul.
And the far left field is out of play.
Say what you want about Adam Schiff, but if you have conservative — or moderate — leanings you should be acting like your side just won a major battle.
Strip away the party labels for a second.
California is not going to be sending a progressive with a significant tilt to the left to represent the Golden State in the U.S. Senate on Nov. 5.
Schiff, if you can let go of past sins perceived and otherwise, is more of a moderate than Porter or Barbara Lee.
Garvey appears to have about as much chance of winning in November as the Oakland A’s winning the World Series in October.
But the fact a “progressive” that believes the country hasn’t gone far enough to the left has been knocked out of contention is a win if you believe moderation is what we need.
It is in the vein of electing the person that might do the least damage from your perspective.
That said, isn’t it better than someone getting elected you believe is capable of inflicting even more damage?
It is kind of a crass way of viewing someone’s politics.
However, it is a win.
Porter is outraged “billionaires rigged” the election via funding the bizarre negative-positive ads on Schiff’s behalf that elevated Garvey — who barely spent a wooden nickel campaigning — in the eyes of the more conservative segments of the electorate.
It’s called strategy.
And as any good skipper, whether it is managing a baseball game or running a political campaign, will tell you, one must use what assets you have to put points up on the board.
If it was somehow corrupt and implied to be unethical by Porter, then why did she resort to the same strategy to try and elevate zombie candidate Eric Early to try and erode Garvey’s support?
What is really going on is the “establishment” and the more moderate in the Democratic Party in California have checked the progressives from gaining more power.
Schiff, the congressman from Burbank who irked Trump die-hards when he managed the former president’s impeachment hearings, was the closest candidate to the late Dianne Feinstein on the Democrats’ side.
This is not an insignificant point.
In terms of political doctrine, the “right” in California for decades has been effectively moderate Democrats.
Republicans — liberal (if they are any left in the Nelson Rockefeller vein), moderate, or conservative on the red spectrum — have been neutered as an effective force for years.
The Democrats have had super majorities in both legislative chambers in Sacramento for a number of years.
That means they have the votes to adopt pocketbook items — higher fees and spending.
But more than a few moderate Democrats have balked at supporting some of the progressive agenda.
And — whether you like him or not — Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed some of the more egregious elements of the progressive agenda.
It is that reason why more than a few players in the progressive movement are more than a bit irked at Schiff.
It’s because there is polling evidence pointing to the Schiff-Garvey entanglement lifting support for moderate Democrats down ticket at the expense of progressive Democrats.
If it holds into November, moderate Democrats could have the upper-hand in state legislature and congressional races in November.
That’s not to say Republicans won’t prevail in some races.
But it does mean the jungle primary’s aim of advancing more moderate politicians is finally working, although not in the way originally envisioned.
One of the impetuses behind having the highest vote getters regardless of party affiliation advancing from the primaries to the the general election was to increase the number of moderates in office,
It was based on the theory that each party would try to elevate candidates that would appeal to a broader base in the general election.
That’s because those behind the election reforms correctly recognized most of those winning primaries had to appeal to the base of their particular party.
Hence, Democrats often advance those with a deeper blue pedigree anchored in liberalism out of primaries.
At the same time, Republicans advanced those of a harsher red based on conservatism to the general election.
But that did not change.
Instead, each party continued to churn out candidates that still appealed to their hardcore bases.
All it did was accelerate a leftward tilt and a rightward tilt in the respective parties.
The only way forward for those that didn’t toe the line with power brokers in charge within either party was to adopt tactics like the one used by Schiff.
The fear from the progressive wing is not that he spell over effect from Schiff’s strategy will elevate Republicans per se or reduce the number of Democrats in office to any degree.
Instead, it could help moderate Democrats get the upper hand in November.
If you are alarmed by progressive agendas gaining ground and are color blind politically, then that is a good thing.
There are signs moderate Democrats aligning somewhat with conservative Republicans are starting to change the course of policies in the state’s biggest cities.
It is underscored by the pushback in San Francisco on the more “progressive” approaches to everything from dealing with the homeless and law and order, to educating children.
And in doing so, it puts the votes of those with no allegiance — or absolute alliances to the self-anointed political demigods of the party they are registered with — back into play.
That is what is really angering Katie Porter.
It wasn’t the fact she lost to a conservative Republican.
It’s the fact she lost to a moderate Democrat.
And it is something that couldn’t have happened without helping elevate a Republican in an open primary.
What happens in the Senate race was the jungle primary finally delivering on its promise of more moderate officeholders.
It wasn’t a win for the Republican Party.
It wasn’t a win for the Democratic Party.
It was a win for California.
This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
