Aspiring politicians can appear from anywhere. It is the only profession in which applicants boast that inexperience is an asset while criticizing people who have been doing the job for a while. Steve Garvey is one of these aspirants. The former LA Dodger and San Diego Padre is a Republican candidate for one of California’s US Senate seats.
Garvey’s sole asset appears to be name recognition — at least for Californians of a certain age (he retired from baseball 37 years ago, in 1987). He had a tidy MLB career, winning a World Series ring in 1981 and being named NL MVP in 1974. However, he never came close to the Hall of Fame.
After he retired from baseball, he started a company that produced TV infomercials. He gave corporate motivational speeches. And he served on the Board of the Baseball Assistance Team, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping former players through financial and medical hardships. It was a solid, if unremarkable, career. Now 75, he thinks the time is ripe for him to represent California in DC.
On Monday night, he had the opportunity to introduce his political self and policies to a statewide audience during a debate among the four leading candidates. The others being Democratic Reps. Katie Porter, Barbara Lee, and Adam Schiff. Note: California has an open primary system in which the two leading vote-getters, regardless of party, compete in the general election.
Garvey did not do well.
SFGate reported his performance under the headline: “Steve Garvey brought cringey Dodgers references to Calif.'s first Senate debate.” The San Francisco Chronicle titled an opinion piece: “Describing Garvey’s debate performance as deer in the headlights is a disservice to deer in headlights.” And Politico called their analysis: “How Steve Garvey became a punchline at the first California Senate debate.”
Abraham Lincoln might give political neophytes hope that they could make excellent politicians. But Trump shows the more likely result when someone with no political experience gets elected. Lincoln did have assets. He was intelligent, well-read, and collegial, with a clear and noble vision of what he wanted for America. In addition, he was an experienced debater.
Garvey does not appear to be any of those things. And last night, he proved he has no debating skills. And that he lacks substantive policies.
Perhaps his rockiest moment came when he refused to answer if he would vote for Trump a third time. He repeatedly bailed on the question by saying he would decide before election day.
“At that time, I will make my choice.”
Son, the correct answer is, “I am a Republican. Of course, I will vote for whoever the Republican primary voters choose to be the GOP nominee.” Supporting one’s team should be an easy out for an ex-pro athlete. And he leaves the weight of the decision to millions of regular Americans (MAGAs) while keeping his skirts relatively clean.
His waffling allowed Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) to get off a zinger,
“What they say is true: Once a Dodger, always a Dodger. This is not the minor leagues. Who will you vote for?”
The rest of the 90 minutes did not go much better. When the moderator asked Garvey about his plan to address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis, he described how he approached unhoused people and
“touched them and listened to them.”
Lee, who was unhoused decades ago after ending an abusive relationship as a young single mother, called Garvey’s comment about meeting and touching homeless people "patronizing." She added,
“I’ve just gotta say, as someone who’s been unsheltered, I cannot believe how he described his walk and touching.”
The audience laughed. Schiff added to the merriment at Garvey’s expense by saying,
“This will be my one and only baseball analogy for the evening: Mr. Garvey, that was a total swing and a miss — that was a total whiff of an answer.”
Garvey did not help his cause when moderator and POLITICO reporter Melanie Mason asked Garvey to explain why he was running as he does not have many policy positions. He answered with a typical conservative word salad,
“I knew I needed to explore California. I needed to talk to the people. Policy for me is a position. I’ve taken strong positions.”
Adding, “Let’s get back to energy.” “Let’s close the border.” “Let’s enforce crime, crime on the streets. Let’s fund the police.”
Another moderator, Elex Michaelson, asked Garvey to answer Porter’s argument that the U.S. healthcare system, with its hidden costs and insurance-chosen physicians, is not competitive. He responded,
“I’ve been a competitor all my life. I believe in building teams and I believe in looking at the existential problems facing health care.”
Perhaps the MAGAs loved it. But everyone else has to wonder, “Where’s the beef?” Unlike another famous athlete, Hershel Walker, Garvey said he was willing to support the children he had with various women — rather than push for abortions. But when it comes to a lack of coherent policies, an inability to formulate a substantive answer, and an image of jaw-dropping ignorance, they are peas in a pod.
Note: This diary has been corrected to reflect Garvey’s sexual profligacy. The original version implied he had no skeletons in his closet.