00:00I'm Joel Pollack, and I'm the opinion editor of the California Post.
00:03Let's break down the fourth and final debate in the race for governor in the California primary.
00:08The big question coming in was whether anyone would manage to take down Javier Becerra,
00:12who has emerged as something of a frontrunner.
00:14He did not really have a good debate, and he took a lot of incoming attacks over his ties to
00:19the Dana Williamson scandal.
00:20Ironically, all the attacks might have cemented his place as the frontrunner simply because he was the center of attention.
00:25Katie Porter had her best debate so far, but it might come too late to help her in the primary
00:30election.
00:31Very interestingly, she gave credit to Republican Steve Hilton for his idea of eliminating income taxes for anyone earning less
00:37than $100,000 a year.
00:39Fellow Republican Chad Bianco had a solid night, and former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also had his best night
00:45ever,
00:45although, again, probably too late to make much of an impact.
00:48Who had a bad night?
00:49Well, Tom Steyer keeps repeating that he's a rich guy who hates other rich guys.
00:53It gets boring.
00:54And Matt Mahan, the moderate mayor of San Jose, who really in some ways should be running away with this
00:59race,
00:59just did not do very well.
01:01He seems to think that if he attacks all the other candidates, he'll boost his own profile,
01:05and it just doesn't work that way.
01:06You have to project a positive vision.
01:08No one knows whether this will have any effect at all because the race for governor is still very much
01:13a lottery.
01:13You could have both Republicans go through, or one Republican, or none,
01:17in which case you'd have an all-Democrat general election, and it would be a lot less interesting.
01:20But one thing is clear.
01:21Having this many candidates this competitive for this long with so many different ideas
01:26has made this debate worth having.
01:28I'm Joel Pollack at the California Post.
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