Mayor Jim Hahn flung down the gauntlet today - or more likely, beat his opponent to a press release about a mutual agreement - and announced a schedule of eight debates with challenger Antonio Villaraigosa.
To their credit, the two men have lined up their battles in a smorgasbord of venues with a virtual puu-puu platter of moderators and hosts. This should give them both a better chance at reaching all hues in L.A.'s political spectrum. If anyone in Los Angeles misses out on a chance to hear Hahn and Villaraigosa's ideas about how to run Los Angeles for the next four years, it's likely they either lacked access to or chose to ignore mass media.
While the format may be similar to previous mayoral debates, the mano-a-mano will be nothing like them. Instead of four candidates slagging an incumbent we'll have two opponents engaged in longer-winded, less sound-bitten dialogue ...
Six weeks from now, we'll either have a much clearer picture of whether Villaraigosa's a fit replacement for the mayor who wasn't there or we'll be sick to death of both of them.
In any case, more exposure is a good thing - we can only hope the increased signal-to-noise ratio will jolt more than 28% of the voters out of their chairs this time around and get them to the polls.
Here's the schedule:
1. KNBC-TV, Telemundo, California State University at Northridge, and the Daily News (March 28; 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
2. The Sentinel, KJLH-FM, and KNBC-TV (April 9, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.)
3. Los Angeles Times and USC debate (April 26, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
4. Valley Industry and Commerce Association (May 11, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
5. KTLA-TV and League of Women Voters (May 12; 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
6. KCAL/KCBS debate (May 15; 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
7. KABC-TV and League of Women Voters (TBD)
8. The Beat 100.3 FM/Steve Harvey (TBD)
Meanwhile, some random notes:
- Bob Hertzberg's promised font of forward-thinking brainstorms on the city's future, BigIdeas4LA.com, is turning out to be either a) much longer in the making than originally projected or b) utter vaporware.
- Also still missing in action - Hertzberg's endorsement of the very man he campaigned to unseat, or of the old ex-roomie who's widely reported to have become his enemy. Bets, anyone?
- The always entertaining but anonymous chatterers over at Mayor Sam are cluttering up the comments area handicapping the race now that Villaraigosa's snatched the Democratic party's nomination from Hahn. Worth a read if you enjoy seeing how the hardcore politics geeks in this town think.
- A couple of days ago, Villaraigosa campaign chief Ace Smith posted an open letter criticizing Hahn's staff for apparently using "endorsements" from Jewish leaders who apparently never gave them.
