Pod Save America had Katie Porter on their Thursday show. (She is a friend of the show, and so is Adam Schiff.) Jon F. asked some good questions, I thought, raising several points were were discussing here on BJ just a day or two ago.
You just won your third term in the House, you’ve got a spot on the Oversight committee that lets you kick the shit out of CEOs, and in 2025 you’re probably more likely to be in the majority in the House than in the Senate, why did you want to run for Senate at this moment. Like, what is appealing about the job for you?
What was your thinking behind announcing now, as opposed to waiting to hear whether or not Senator Diane Feinstein plans to retire?
By far the most common question I got from people on Twitter was some version of “oh, no, how are we gonna keep her house seat now?” How do you feel about the ability of Democrats to keep that seat in 2024, when winning back the majority may depend on that seat?
You and I talked in a previous interview about why housing isn’t a bigger part of the national conversation. You mentioned that in your first race your then-consultants tried to unsuccessfully talk you out of making it a big issue. How much will you be talking about it in this race, and what do you think you can get done on this issue in the senate for California and the country?
One new responsibility you’d have as senator is confirming judges, including possible Supreme Court justices. Polls show that trust in the Supreme Court is now the lowest it’s ever been. I know you’ve co-sponsored a bill that would impose `8-year term limits on Supreme Court justices. What are your thoughts on changing the number of seats on the court or other potential court reforms?
Because this is very blue California and because we have a runoff system where there’s a decent chance that there’s a general election will feature two democrats running against each other, it does seem like this race will be more about the future of the Democratic Party, the direction of the Democratic Party, than most other races. What’s your critique of where the party has fallen short?
This could be a crowded race, and it already seems like it could be a contentious race, many of your [interrupted by Katie Porter, and then Favreau brings it back ]… I was gonna ask, how tough do you plan to get in this race, because I noticed many of your potential rivals, if not most of them… they greeted your entry into the race by taking shots at you over announcing. during the storms this week. Some of the shots were oblique, some were less so. Um, what do you consider fair game in this race, and how tough do you plan to get?
Speaking of being tough, it’s one of the personal qualities that has made you such an effective member of congress. CEOs are afraid of you, Wall Street’s afraid of you, Jon Lovett’s afraid of you, um, but there’s been a bunch of stories in the last few weeks based on mostly anonymous accounts from former staffers that you’re also tough on the people who work for you. I’ve been wondering, what’s your reaction to all those stories?
Last question. You once told me that some of your most difficult constituents are your children, what do they think about Mom running for senate?
Katie Porter starts at the 58-minute mark and ends at 1:13. So the interview is 15 minutes total.
If you want to hear the answers straight from the horse’s mouth, listen to the interview. I would love to hear the reactions of other BJ peeps to the interview!
I won’t share my thoughts on the interview until others have shared theirs.
Totally open thread!
Katie Porter (but really an Open Thread)Post + Comments (98)