<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Democrats acting badly.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Courtesy of KPCC (Southern California Public Radio) at:</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://tinyurl.com/8p838an" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://tinyurl.com/8p838an</font></a></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">------------------------------------</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img src="cid:7759ACEE-680A-455D-902A-C8A356465B87" alt="image.jpeg" id="7759ACEE-680A-455D-902A-C8A356465B87" width="469" height="106"></span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The already bitter congressional race between two longtime Democrats nearly came to fisticuffs Thursday. The video below shows two grown men in suits appearing ready for a schoolyard brawl.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Video from the debate at Pierce College begins with Congressman Howard Berman, 71, accusing Congressman Brad Sherman, 57, of being “delusional” about Berman’s record. Some in the crowd cheer loudly as Sherman stands to respond.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Then things get interesting:</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To summarize, Sherman shouts into a microphone, points at Berman and the elder congressman takes a quick step toward his junior. The bespectacled lawmakers appear to be within a foot of each other, perhaps close enough to fog the other’s glasses.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Don’t get in my face!” Sherman barks.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sherman, who stands taller than Berman, then swings his arm around him. The force makes Berman wobble a bit.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3">“You </span><span class="s3">wanna</span><span class="s3"> get into this!” Sherman asks loudly.</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The two turn towards each other, nose to nose for a moment, as the audience goes wild. A Sheriff’s deputy comes up behind them to calm the skirmish between the two men battling to hold onto their jobs.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Later, emails flew. Berman’s camp fired first.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman attempted to start a fight with Howard Berman on stage this afternoon during a debate at Pierce College, forcibly grabbing Berman,” a statement said.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Brad Sherman loses his mind and acts like a bully,” said Brandon Hall, senior advisor to Berman.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emails from the Sherman campaign came next.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Brandon Hall has taken the Pierce College debate incident and thoroughly distorted what happened,” a statement said. “Sherman, as the tape shows, very definitely did not put Berman in a headlock. Nothing like it,” said the press release, referring to accusations by the Berman side.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There may have been no headlock, but heads likely are spinning after the confrontation.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is a race that pits two incumbent Democrats against each other after redistricting. They’re also facing off twice because of the California’s new “Top Two” primary that has the two highest vote-getters regardless of political party competing in November.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sherman finished first in the primary, in part because the new district has more overlap with his old one. A recent poll gave him a double-digit lead, even though most major Democrats including Governor Brown and U.S. Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer back Berman.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The contest is particularly bitter for other reasons. Both are well-known Jewish leaders whose contest has split L.A.’s Jewish community. In addition, Berman – who’s been in Congress three decades – felt the junior representative should have stepped aside and run in a different district. Sherman, for his part, sees Berman as feeling too entitled.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3">They different on some issues – Sherman opposed the Iraq War earlier than Berman, and led an effort to kill the economic bailout. He is also more</span><span class="s3"> </span><span class="s3">protectionist</span><span class="s3"> on trade issues. </span><span class="s3">But the two have similar voting records.</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3"></span> </span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The race is one of the most expensive Congressional contests in the nation, and has attracted news coverage across the country. Now there’s good video. Wonder what that will do for coverage.</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">---------------</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Video</span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "><font color="#000000" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><a href="http://www.youtube.cpm/watch?v=iERg3EgUMvE" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iERg3EgUMvE</a></font></p><p class="s4" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; "> </p></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">------------------------------------</span></div><br><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">"Moscow Cares"</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "> </div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."</div><div><br></div><div>- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)</div><div> </div></div></body></html>