Karen Bass and Nithya Raman faced off Tuesday night in a debate hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo52 in Universal City. It was the last face-to-face between the Los Angeles mayoral candidates before the November 3 elections.
Times columnists Lorraine Ali, Gustavo Arellano and Steve Lopez look at the strengths and weaknesses.
Arellano: Raman had the line of the evening at the very beginning, channeling – of all politicians – Ronald Reagan, one of the last people you could consider an Angeleno, even though he absolutely was.
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?” » she asked, looking directly at the camera.
For the vast majority of Los Angeles residents, the answer is a resounding no.
Until tonight, Raman has done a good job communicating a message of hope and change, while Bass, as outgoing president, has repeatedly stumbled on her record during the biblically bad four years of her first term.
But I didn’t hear that Raman tonight – in part because Bass forced her to play defense, from her first response to her final statement.
The mayor won the debate, if the forensics are anything to go by. She rarely looked down at her notepad, unlike Raman. It’s something I’ve never noticed in Raman before – either a new nervous tic or an indication that the city council member doesn’t seem to be able to speak with conviction, which has been a frequent criticism of her.
Bass’s barrages reached Raman on several occasions, leading him to speak to or even silence moderators at NBC and Telemundo. A whiny Raman is not a good Raman, which his advisors must teach him as soon as possible.
But Raman’s responses were never meandering and weren’t too elliptical, even when pressed by competent moderators. As she leads in the most reputable polls, Raman’s work for the night has not failed – and she has cleared this very low hurdle.
Bass, meanwhile, had to throw a punch. Instead, as a political friend who doesn’t care about either candidate texted me after the debate, she won a round. She only has a limited number of rounds left to make up before Election Day – and Bass can no longer rely solely on a points victory, especially with an opponent who now looks like she’s ahead.
In his closing speech, Raman listened again to Reagan’s cries, declaring: “We cannot afford four more years of decline, of mismanagement, of excuses.” She then pivoted to her positive message, smiling while proclaiming, “We can be joyful and ambitious again.” » The more she sticks to this upbeat vibe, the better she stands out to a voter base tired of the doom and gloom that has befallen Los Angeles under Bass.
Bass, meanwhile, sounded funereal, beginning: “It has been the honor of my life to serve in the city where I was born and raised. » This is how you start a retirement announcement, not another four-year term. Let’s see what voters say on Election Day.
Outgoing Mayor Karen Bass rarely looked down at her clipboard and seemed more in control of the moment.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Councilwoman Nithya Raman’s responses are never in vain, but she seems less confident, frequently looking down to check her notes while defending her work.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Lopez: After watching the debate, I don’t think this matter is over.
Yes, Raman is leading in the polls, and Bass is struggling with high negativity rates, the baggage of the Palisades fire, and the ongoing challenge of homelessness.
But this debate could have been a coup de grace for Raman, and instead I think Bass won the evening, not only by touting his accomplishments and responding sharply to criticism, but by seeming to have a better command of the moment.
My colleague Lorraine Ali made a good point: how many people actually watched this debate? Probably not much, so it’s not like those hour-long trips back and forth are going to tip the scales.
But as we have noted, a considerable percentage of potential voters remain undecided. Maybe it’s because they’re not in love with either candidate. Or maybe they’re ready to move on from Bass but aren’t sure who Raman really is. If they watched tonight, looking for an answer, I’m not sure they got one.
Raman became elected as a darling of the Democratic Socialists of America and was a prominent member of that wing on the city council. But even DSA board members did not support his mayoral bid. In fact, Bass had the support of 13 of the 15 council members.
So how will Raman build a coalition in a city where the mayor’s power is shared with the council, and where issues like homelessness are the joint responsibility of the city and county, and where any progress is hindered without strong relationships between the mayors of Sacramento and Washington?
It is possible that the council will rally behind her if she is elected, because just as the mayor needs the council to accomplish many things, the council needs the mayor.
But I’d like to know more about who Raman is and why she flip-flops so much (on support for the LAPD, on the mansion tax, on the Inside Safe homeless initiative, etc., etc.), as my colleague David Zahniser reported the other day.
Learning and growing can be a good thing. But voters need to know who Raman is, what her vision is for the city and how she plans to lead.
I didn’t understand that in this debate. Bass, whose first term works against her as much as for her, is still holding on and holding on.
It may come down to whether older voters, likely to favor Bass, will turn out in greater numbers than younger voters, likely to favor Raman.
But from my point of view, it’s not over. Except maybe for the Dodgers.
Ali: Raman was leading in the polls heading into tonight’s mayoral debate, so his job wasn’t as difficult as Bass’s, who is fighting for his political life. Raman just needed to knock the mayor off balance – then keep her there for an hour. But that didn’t happen.
Bass appeared calm, confident and in command of conversation, while Raman seemed less sure of herself, frequently looking down to check her notes while defending her work on key issues such as homelessness (until recently, she was chair of the city’s Housing and Homeless Committee) and attacking Bass for leaving the city “leaderless” during crises such as the Palisades and Lineage fires.
The overall tone of the debate was less heated than when the two candidates met in August to face off without Spencer Pratt, the former reality TV personality and Republican candidate who lost in the primary.
But there were moments Tuesday when the women’s history as colleagues — and once allies — informed their attacks on each other.
Bass said Raman was “not ready for prime time” and had a “dismissive” relationship with her constituents. Raman continually pointed out that Bass had failed to address the homeless crisis in Los Angeles, and he did so from the perspective of someone who had worked closely with the mayor.
It remains to be seen how many people actually watched the debate and whether the candidates’ arguments will be echoed in subsequent clips or memes. Neither candidate has the charm or spark of, say, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and as tasteless as it may sound, charisma matters.
With three weeks until the election, there still isn’t much enthusiasm about the mayor’s choices on the ballot. This debate has not helped this cause, nor boosted the race.
Luckily for Bass, she has the presence of a leader, and that gave her the edge over Raman tonight. But was anyone watching other than my fellow columnists Gustavo Arellano and Steve Lopez?
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