Adam Schiff discusses his plans as California’s next senator

Adam Schiff – “asshole”, “lowlife”, “little pencil neck”, to use some of the sharper phrases How Donald Trump describes it – is to take the high road, turn the other cheek, and generally ignore all of this and promise to do his best to become a better man and work and thrive in a good environment. Washington, D.C. affiliated with MAGA.

Yes California’s newly elected Democratic senator Through hostility and hostility, it requires intense security to sustain life. Violent threats flared by the vengeful president-elect.

No, his views Trump and his discourse – “Hatred, division and rancor” as Schiff defined it have not changed.

Still, he stressed, he will focus on doing what my constituents elected me to do: lower the cost of living. Specifically, reduce housing and child care costs, build more housing, address homelessness, address rising food prices and the struggles facing working and middle-class families.”

“These are, in part, the same issues that Republicans and Trump campaigned on,” Schiff said Tuesday in his first interview since voters gave him a six-year lease on the seat once held by Trump. the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. “When they’re serious…they’ll find a willing ally.”

Trump’s situation was asked Threats to target Californiaundisputed The beating heart of the anti-Trump resistanceSchiff vowed to “defend our state and our democracy and oppose any effort to punish California, cut off California’s resources, or diminish people’s rights and freedoms.”

“But,” he said, “I will begin with the hopeful expectation that there are broad areas where we can work together and move the state and the country forward.”

There is a history of futility among California Assembly members trying to move from the lower chamber to the U.S. Senate. The state was too large and diverse, physically and spiritually, for a legislator who represented a small slice of the landscape to leapfrog to statewide success.

This has changed in recent yearsWith the advent of social media, and especially cable TV and its political talk shows, Schiff became a household name not only in California but also nationally.

Of course, that was his role. as a leading prosecutor And Trump hater This made Schiff a hero among Democrats and Official condemnation by Parliament – A political gift as he boosts his Senate bid a crowded Democratic field. The only thing missing was shiny wrapping paper and a bright red bow.

Schiff had reason to smile after his formal censure by House Republicans; This move gave his U.S. Senate campaign a major boost.

(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Schiff made no mention of Trump in his victory speech Tuesday night. (He thanked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was immensely helpful in pushing Schiff ahead of his fellow Democrats in the first two primaries, leaving him only to face off. ill-fated Republican Steve Garvey in November.) During our conversation, Schiff only mentioned the president-elect when asked.

Some think Trump could use his second term as president to turn things around deep divisions created in the last tumultuous decade. According to this optimistic way of thinking, Trump will never be able to run for office again and has a legacy to consider; a fanciful idea that is clearly the triumph of hope over experience. To remember many anticipated “presidential pivot” This did not happen during Trump’s first inauguration.

But Schiff shrugged rhetorically.

“I don’t think we really know,” he said. Trump “doesn’t have much of an ideology outside of himself, so it probably depends on what he thinks is in his own interest.”

Because there is no control over what Trump will do, Schiff continued, “My focus is on what I can do, and what I can do is call the people on the other side of the aisle.” Try working out like Dianne Feinstein does. Develop relationships with people. Get to know the Central Valley and the state’s far north and far south. Represent them well. Represent them aggressively.

Schiff, who had just returned from California, spoke via Zoom from his home office in the Washington suburbs. Behind him, next to a folding table, were framed pictures of two brothers: John F. and Robert F. Kennedy, and Schiff and his older brother, Dan.

he said Trump’s victoryFrankly, while it was disappointing, it wasn’t shocking. He said it stems from deep economic concerns and a sense that Trump and Republicans are offering voters a better solution than Democrats have accomplished in the last four years.

“You’ve probably heard me say many times during the campaign that the problem today is not that people aren’t working. Unemployment is very low. The problem is they’re working and they’re still trying to get by,” Schiff said. “This has been a problem that’s been going on for decades. I think it’s definitely been exacerbated by the pandemic, and you’re seeing a global pushback against the status quo and the incumbents everywhere.

“I think it’s a disappointment that despite all the promises, people’s lives are becoming more and more difficult and challenging.”

The task for Democrats over the next few years, he said, will be to find better ways to talk to and find solutions to these gnawing concerns.

When asked what his top priorities would be as senator, Schiff said:

“Housing, I think, is at the top of my list. We need to build a lot more housing in California if we want to make it possible for people to pay the rent and buy their first home. And if we’re going to figure it out homelessness problem“We will need to build a lot more housing.”

Later, Schiff said: “I, too, want to expand child care and make it more accessible, and we will prioritize financial assistance for people pursuing careers in child care, as well as a child tax credit, and create incentives for employers and employees to provide federal government child care at workplaces.” will build the facilities.

He also talked about “attacking food prices by going after some of these anticompetitive mergers… attacking climate change by continuing our investment in renewable energy, and also really diving into the water issue.” It’s not a play on words.”

Much of this is much easier said than done with Republicans controlling the White House and likely both houses of Congress.

But Schiff said he wasn’t used to practicing in a defensive crouch. He said he “got a lot of bills signed” by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson while serving in the state Senate in Sacramento. “I ensured that many bills were signed by (Republican President) George W. Bush and advanced in the Republican Congresses,” said Schiff, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2001.

Given his bid for reelection in 2030 — which was your friendly columnist’s idea, not something Schiff has already considered — the soon-to-be senator was asked what a successful pitch would look like six years from now.

“He truly served the state,” Schiff replied. “Everywhere in the state. He got things done, found ways for minority and majority to work together, and he succeeded.

“And,” Schiff added, “he was there to protect our democracy, our rights and our freedoms when the country needed it.”