LOS ANGELES—With the Nov. 8 election approaching, mayoral candidate and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) appeared on stage with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Oct. 27, establishing herself as the most progressive candidate running to govern the second most populous city in the United States.
Organized by the California Working Families Party—a progressive political organization—the “Bernie for Bass” rally drew hundreds of people to Playa Vista’s Central Park in the evening, with both giving impassioned speeches on homelessness, crime, abortion, and wages.
“The cost of rent, and the cost of living, means working two or three jobs and barely getting by,” Bass told the crowd of supporters. “And it means more and more people falling into homelessness every day, but if we don’t act now, if we don’t win this election, we will return to the day of failed solutions, shelters, and warehouses locking people up, criminalizing poverty—we’re not doing it again.”
Bass aligned herself with the working class, while referring to her opponent, real-estate mogul Rick Caruso, as an out-of-touch billionaire.
“I didn’t have to get on a campaign bus to discover East L.A., Hollywood, Sylmar, or Pico Union,” Bass said, as cheers erupted. “I’m not a tourist—I’m an Angeleno.”
“And I didn’t register as a Democrat three weeks before launching my mayor’s race. I didn’t do that because I’m a lifelong Democrat,” Bass said, alluding to Caruso’s registering as a Democrat before entering the mayoral race.
If elected, Bass said she plans to initiate an “emergency response” to homelessness and house 15,000 people in the first year of her term by building more temporary housing units while leasing more unused properties in the city as additional shelters.
To combat crime, one of her policy plans, according to her campaign, is to hire more officers at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), which is short roughly 300 sworn members.
Bass added she is a “pro-choice candidate” on the issue of abortion. Caruso has affirmed the same.
Sanders told supporters that Bass is up against “right-wing extremism,” and talked about how “greedy” billionaires are, taking another shot at Caruso.
Sanders, a former civil rights activist in the 1960s, supports raising the minimum wage nationwide, adding taxes on capital gains for the wealthiest people in the nation, Medicare for all, the Green New Deal, free college tuition, and rigorous gun control, among other progressive policies. As the longest-registered Independent in Congressional history, Sanders has planted himself as a strong leader of the Democratic Socialists of America.
“This campaign must be about something else,” Sanders said. “It must be our fight for a vision that creates a nation and a government that works for all and not just a few.”
Sanders’s stop in Southern California was part of his campaign “Get Out the Vote” tour across the country ahead of the midterm election to support Democratic candidates in California, Texas, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Craig Keshishian, political strategist and former pollster for President Ronald Reagan, told The Epoch Times Bass’s appearance with Sanders shows she “doesn’t have to hide her true colors.”
“You add into the mix the raging crime … and the homeless issues … associated with that taking place in Los Angeles,” Keshishian said. “Now it’s created a combustible environment for certain, traditionally democratic seats like the mayor of Los Angeles.”
Angelenos are facing a decision in the upcoming election that will determine whether the city will continue its progressive path or take a more moderate approach.
Bass has been endorsed by most state and local Democratic politicians as well as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while Caruso has been backed by former Mayor Richard Riordan, business groups including the Los Angeles County Business Federation, and the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Bass apologized last month for accusing Caruso during a debate of paying for an endorsement from the Avance Democratic Club, a local Latino political group.
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