Conventions Kick Off Home Stretch For 2020 Election

Speaker 1: 00:01 The political conventions are here from the top of the ticket to local races. We check in on the start of the final push to election day, a milestone week for our democracy. It's been 100 years since women earned the right to vote. Women in San Diego were part of that history and let the kids play the young Padre star, electrifying baseball and challenging its unwritten rules. I'm Mark Sauer and the KPBS round table starts. Now. Speaker 2: 00:33 [inaudible] Speaker 1: 00:37 Welcome to our discussion of the week's top stories. I'm Mark Sauer and joining me at the KPBS remote round table today, Michael Smolins columnist with the San Diego union Tribune RIAA Trabelsi anchor of evening edition on KPBS television and Steven Woods, cohost of Ben and woods on the potteries flagship station, 97 three, the fan, it said that necessity is the mother of invention this week. It was the mother of convention, a political convention, the likes of which we've never seen as the Democrats nominated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in an all remote affair. Next week, the Republicans will follow suit re nominating Donald Trump and Mike Pence. And that's hardly all that's different. This election year union Tribune columnist, Michael Smolins's with me to sort it all out. Well, four nights, two hours each and prime time, all of it done from all over the place anywhere, but the Milwaukee arena chosen for the big event. Start with your overall impression of the democrats' version of love and the time of pandemic. Speaker 2: 01:37 Well, just a quick comment on the, the format. Yeah, it is unusual, but frankly, I like it. I've often I've thought for a long time, the traditional conventions are a waste of time. They're way too long. It's just a messaging thing. Now they don't really do much business there. So, uh, I think this will be a weird silver lining in the pandemic that we're to be tough to go back to regular conventions, but in addition to the, you know, the Levin and also the, the notion of inclusion and what the progressive policies that, that a new administration would bring forth. There were some tough shots at president Trump, as we would expect from just about everybody. Uh, he is the main thrust of the democratic campaign. There's no question about it. He was the thing. He's been the theme for Joe Biden since he first got in this race. And they've stuck to that message, Speaker 1: 02:24 The expect any surprises from the Republicans during their turn next week, looks like Mike Pence is safe as VP, despite some speculation, Trump would replace Pence with Nikki Haley or someone else. Speaker 2: 02:35 Well, perhaps, you know, Trump will do stuff to try to get attention. I think it's more of what he says and what he does than suddenly unveiling any new, uh, you know, ally or things like that. Uh, they'll try to make the best spectacle they can. That's Trump's emo Speaker 1: 02:52 Speaking of Trump, he told supporters in Wisconsin this week, that the only way you can lose the election is if it's rigged. He claims Malin. Balloting is inherently fraudulent. Though. Americans have voted by mail since the civil war. Very few instances of fraud. Trump's against Malin ballots outside of Florida, apparently, but you wrote this week that his claims and moves to slow. The males could backfire. How so? Speaker 2: 03:14 Well, particularly here in California, I know this isn't a state that Trump is going to win, but other States are also doing what's called ballot harvesting. And we've talked a lot about it. It's a relatively new process where third parties can come in and, you know, if I don't want to bring my ballot into a ballot drop box or to the ma to the post office, somebody can take it for me. If I, you know, authorize them and what people can do and political parties and organizations is they can collect numerous ballots. And with the suspicion and the concern about the post office was facing post office said, we might not be able to deliver the ballots on time to be counted. So now people are organizing even more to make sure those ballots get there. And I think that what he's done to raise concern about the post office will actually encourage more of it to happen. Speaker 1: 04:02 Well, we're now roughly 10 weeks out from the big November 3rd election. Now turning a local politics, give us an overview of how things are about to change at San Diego city hall. Democrat will replace Republican. Kevin Faulkner is mayor for starters. Speaker 2: 04:16 Yes. It's either going to be Todd Gloria, the assemblyman and former city council, president, or Barbara breve. Who's currently on the city council though. She's just sort of one term and she's been a longtime business woman, very successful. Um, they're, you know, they are core Democrats and on the sort of the democratic, uh, you know, issues that, that, that, uh, strike a lot of people, you know, abortion guns, things like that. They're very much in sync on a lot of municipal issues. They are not, and that's the big dividing line. Uh, labor is lined up very much behind Todd Gloria. And so we'll see what happens there. But in addition to that, with all the focus on that, a majority of the nine members of the city council will change hands. I think it's five seats will change hands, uh, either through people being termed out or running for higher office. And it's still going to be a very, a democratic dominated, uh, city council, maybe even more so, depending on how a race or two goes, but you're going to have a lot of new people there. And, uh, I think, you know, with coronavirus pandemic, what we know is going to be another tough budget year in the coming year, that that'll be some, uh, some difficult, uh, treading for, for, for newcomers. Speaker 1: 05:23 There will be many ballot initiatives, confronting voters based on where they live in the County, but a big one in the city of San Diego comes directly from the nationwide protests over the killing by police in Minneapolis of George Floyd. What would a new commission on police practices put into effect here? Should San Diego voters approve it on November 3rd? Speaker 2: 05:43 Well, what it would do is create a truly independent police review board with independent investigators or attorneys and the like right now, the current board, uh, they, you know, they, they do their best, but they have to rely on the, and basically review the police department investigations. And you could see that there's a potential conflict there or a concern. I think it will pass. It seems to be gaining a lot of momentum. The real issue I think is going to be if, and when it passes the enabling ordinance, you know, that's where the, the, you know, the rubber meets the road. The details are hashed out into how this thing's going to work. And that's where people that aren't wild about this process might be able to get some leverage to water it down. So even if it is approved, which will be a big deal in this town, because people have been trying for decades, there's still a lot more to be hashed out as to how effective it will be and what kind of teeth it has. Speaker 1: 06:34 Oh, a dozen or so. Propositions will be on the ballot for all California voters and the special workplace rules for the gig economy. This flows from the bitter battle over assembly, bill five, championed by simply woman Lorena Gonzales of San Diego proposition, 22 pertains mainly to drivers for companies like Lyft and Uber. Now, if past, how would it changed the laws? It stands. Speaker 2: 06:56 Well, it, it basically overturned a lot. I'm not sure of the details a lot, if not all of AB five. I mean, particularly as you mentioned for the, uh, uh, the, the ride share drivers, uh, that was a big target of AB five, uh, Gonzalez bill. They are independent contractors, uh, currently, but th that bill would require, uh, Uber and Lyft and the, like to an other companies that use independent contractors to make them employees. They don't have to be full time employees, but maybe part time employees. But the goal here is to get them benefits and get them, you know, better, or, you know, sustainable pay. Uh, that's been Loraina Gonzalez, his whole, uh, you know, uh, push vision. She's been in the assembly. She used to be a labor leader. So you know where she's coming from. Uh, now we know that that a judge has basically suspended enforcement of AB five, which was the law was going to go into effect on Friday. And, uh, so Lyft and Uber apparently will stick around. They had threatened to suspend operations, uh, once this law kicked in. So there's a lot to play out, but that's what, uh, proposition 22 would, would do. It would basically overturn, uh, much of AB five, if not all of it Speaker 1: 08:06 Well, lots more in the coming weeks on candidates and initiative is up and down the November ballot. And for all the stories and comprehensive election information can always go to kpbs.org. I've been speaking with Michael Smolins columnist for the San Diego union Tribune. Thanks Michael. Thanks Mark women took center stage at the democratic national convention on Wednesday night, powerful speeches by how speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Elizabeth Warren and former candidate and secretary of state Hillary Clinton set up the historic acceptance speech by vice presidential candidate. Kamala Harris not lost was a remarkable milestone. The 100 anniversary of the 19th amendment granting women, the right to vote. It was realized after decades of demonstrations and campaigning known as the suffrage movement KPBS evening edition. Anchor Maya recently looked into the role women in San Diego played in that push for equality. Maya, thanks for joining us. Thank you so much, Mark. Well, I find it personally remarkable how recent it was that women were not allowed to vote. My grandmother was pregnant with my mother when the 19th amendment was ratified. Why did you want to dive into this interesting bit of San Diego? Speaker 3: 09:16 You know, Mark, I actually studied this back in my college days. I have a minor in women's studies and I found it fascinating to learn about how prominent women of San Diego really helped to push California into the progressive state that it is these names. We still hear them every day. Ellen Browning, Scripps flora Kimball, who was one of the founders of national city, Clara Shortridge Fultz, who was one of the first female attorneys in San Diego. And these women contributed so much more to society and to history than women suffered Speaker 1: 09:50 In 1920 is the year. The 19th amendment was finally ratified by enough States to turn it into law. But this, uh, story goes back to the 18 hundreds with a trip by Susan B, Anthony to San Diego. How was she received here? Speaker 3: 10:03 That's right. Susan B. Anthony, who is the famous leader of the national suffrage movement. She paid a visit to San Diego in 1895. She spoke at the Methodist church, which back then was a building in what we now call downtown San Diego and the place was filled. And from what I understand, it was standing room, only people flocked to hear her speak about giving women the right to vote. And she made a lot of speeches during her time. She gave a hundred speeches a year and just this week, by the way, president Trump posthumously gave her a full and complete pardon because in 1872, she was convicted of voting in that year's presidential election. And that was almost 50 years before women could legally vote. She was a very brave woman. Speaker 1: 10:54 And the first vote on women's voting rights actually failed in 1896. How did proponents bounce back and refocus the effort? Speaker 3: 11:01 So it appeared as the sixth amendment on the ballot, and it got a lot of attention. It actually passed in San Diego County, but it failed in California, but narrowly, interestingly, most of the no votes came from industrialized cities like San Francisco. And that had a lot to do with prohibition. Men feared that if women could vote, they would vote in prohibition. Men at the time were considered to be intellectually superior to women and women were thought to be morally superior to men. So it wasn't until 1911, which was 15 years later that women and some men, by the way, refocused, as you say, and came up with this very clear plan. And this time they were led by dr. Charlotte Baker, who was the first female physician in San Diego. And she was president of the San Diego medical association, a very respected and formidable woman. So San Diego was actually part of three suffrage movements. We had 1896, which failed and 1911 and 1920 to get the 19th amendment finally passed and ratified. Speaker 1: 12:17 And your story also talks about the important work done by local women, including those who traveled by car around San Diego was even more difficult. Then in considering the journey at the time and our traffic today, what were some of the tactics these women use to persuade men to join the cause? Speaker 3: 12:34 So back then, as we know, San Diego was a rural town suffer, just knew that they had to reach the communities in the outskirts of town because these agricultural areas really valued women's work because they relied on it. So these women knew that and they got into this decorated car on a Monday morning for suffragists. They left and they drove on this dusty uneven road all the way up the coast to Oceanside. Then they went to Fallbrook and Ramona, and they stopped along the way to meet and talk with potential voters. And it took them three long days to cover this route. But in the end it was a success. Speaker 1: 13:15 And your story on KPBS television relied on documents and photos from the women's museum of California. Tell us about their mission and how did it staff help you with the story, Speaker 3: 13:25 The women's museum at Liberty station? It is a treasure trove of local and national artifacts, documents, photos, literature, and clothes and hats. I might add as well. It's really well worth a visit. I spoke to an [inaudible] who is president of the museum, and she is a local expert on this movement, as well as other movements as well. The San Diego history center was also a very important resource. I started researching this story at the beginning of the pandemic. So it was not easy to get the photos that I needed, but it was well worth. The wait, see, the center has an entire box filled with diary entries of dr. Charlotte Baker who had chronicled the local fight toward victory and reading diary entries from more than a hundred years ago is such a treat. You can learn so much about the feelings of that day and in her entry from the night of the election, dr. Speaker 3: 14:21 Baker wrote that she stayed awake until two o'clock in the morning, worried that the cause was defeated because the reports that she was receiving from San Francisco were not good. Ultimately though, we know that the rural areas did come through. So finally, a week later, the city clerk called dr. Baker on the phone and told her to come on down to city hall and register to vote. And she did just that. And she was even sworn in as a deputy, so she could deputize and register other women to vote. And by the, the margin in California was almost one and a half percent. The margin in San Diego was almost 15% more than 57% of San Diego men voted yes to give women the right to vote Speaker 1: 15:06 Enlightened. Even back then. Well, listeners can find this story on kpbs.org and the KPBS YouTube page. We wanted to shift now to present day politics. And it's a strange year as we've seen with the democratic national convention this week, we've got the Republican convention next week. Uh, how is KPBS stepping up? The coverage is not going to be a debates, presumably as we've hosted in the past, we're not going to be out in covering rallies as candidates come to town or local candidates, step up a, what are we going to do? Speaker 3: 15:34 Yeah. So in the next few weeks, our viewers, listeners and readers will begin to see our in depth reports. We have all the bases covered with feature stories, breaking down the local and state measures, as well as the local races from city council to the board of supervisors and the congressional seats as well. All of our election coverage can be found on our website, kpbs.org/election, along with the very popular voters guide, which goes live by the way on October 5th. And this is going to be a great resource for our voters. You can type in your home address and zip code, and it's going to pull up your personal ballot, where you can read about candidates and measures and corresponding stories, and you can save your selections and then even email them to yourself. Speaker 1: 16:20 Yeah, it's a terrific resource. And I use it as we do our coverage and do the round table, every election cycle. I've been speaking with KPBS evening edition, anchor Maya troublesome. Thanks Maya. Thank you. Mark baseball is back sort of, and the San Diego Padres have a player who's worth the price of admission trouble is nobody can buy a ticket and go watch a game at Petco park this season because of the pandemic yet the team's electric young star, Fernando totties jr. Has fans a buzz, even if they can't see them in person, not just for his dazzling play, but for breaking a sacred to some unwritten rule here. Do we explain to Stephen Woods cohost of Bennon woods on the Padres flagship 97 three, the fan. Thanks for joining us, Steven. That's my pleasure. How are you guys? We're doing well today? Well, your morning show, it's all about fan reaction for as long as you've been following and covering the Padres. Speaker 1: 17:13 Does anything come close to what happened this week? All because of this young Padre star hit a grand slam home run. You know, the only, the only thing that came close for pottery fans in the last couple of years, anyway, since we've been now on the air is the signing of Manny Machado. That was, that was pretty huge and fairly unexpected. And that elation, you know, lasted, lasted quite a bit. This week has been a whirlwind. We did, we did four hours straight. The other day. We did, we did four hours straight on that, that whole scenario. And it was, it went by that. It really Speaker 4: 17:50 Was one of the easiest shows we've ever done. Speaker 1: 17:52 Now, this big transgression that we're talking about, it was apparently swinging on a three O pitch that would be for non baseball folks, three balls and no strikes. And for those who aren't baseball experts explain why that's an unwritten rule when it comes to sportsmanship. Speaker 4: 18:06 You know, it's a, it's, it's, I've been playing baseball it's I was 10 years old. I've been watching baseball my entire life. I don't, I've never understood that rule. Never, uh, you know, the unwritten rule as it were. It just doesn't make any sense to me because in that case, I think the general thinking was, well, we've got a comfortable enough lead at that point. I believe it was seven runs at the time, big lead, late in the game. Yeah. Big lead late in the game. So if you've watched the Padres bullpen at all this season, I think it's pretty fair to say that no lead is safe Speaker 1: 18:43 Banner up for the Padres, got a message pitch, Speaker 4: 18:45 Right? He did. He had Manny Machado. Who's been around a long time, kind of knew it was coming. And that's the unfortunate part is, is all of that, uh, makes it tough. It makes it tough for people. You know, some people just don't understand, you know, you saw a lot of people on Twitter saying, I don't understand his job is to hit. He hit, you know, he did his job. That pitcher's job is to get him out. He didn't do his job, tip your cap and move on. Speaker 1: 19:10 Hall of Famers, Reggie Jackson, Johnny bench. Great, great players, uh, many current players, they all voiced their support for Fernando tatties jr. He's viewed as maybe an emerging superstar. How does this elevate a young players national profile? Speaker 4: 19:26 It's, it's huge. It's, it's like really nothing I've seen in a long, long time if ever, because he is the whole package and he's got the look he's got the ability. He's fast. He's got a cannon for an arm. He hits, he hits with power. He, the way he slides, he avoids tags. He does things that I've never seen. You know, my dad grew up a Yankee fan and, and he would tell me about Mickey mantle. And he'd say, you just don't understand, you know, you never saw anybody hit a ball that far. And with Fernando, you've just never see anybody. That's that's that electric, you know, we saw, I grew up watching Ken Griffey jr. He came up. I thought he was remarkable. Um, Alex Rodriguez, Derek cheater. I mean, none of these guys do the things that Fernando tatties jr has been able to do in such a short time, uh, such a short career, you know, electric, I think is the most common word to describe him. Speaker 1: 20:20 And as you say, very short career, a few games over a hundred, but in those first hundred games, he's, he's way up in the top in baseball history and what he's done, right. Statistically. Speaker 4: 20:31 Yes, statistically, uh, it's through the roof. I mean, he's, he's up there with the biggest names to ever do it, you know, Ty Cobb and people like that, it's it really is. It's, it's hard to grasp. I mean, it really is. And you know, if you, if you hear him talk and you, you know him a little bit, he's just like, yeah. I mean, this is, this is what I do. This is how I play. He is I think the B engine of the San Diego Padres Speaker 1: 20:56 Now let the kids play as a recent marketing slogan for major league baseball. But when we get old school stories like this, does that add another obstacle for baseball, which is after all trying to attract a younger audience? Speaker 4: 21:09 Well, it, you know, it tried to, it tried to throw up a speed bump. And I feel like, I don't know. I feel like a barrier was broken, broken this week because I've never seen, I never thought guys like buck show Walter and Johnny bench who you mentioned, Reggie Jackson. I never thought guys like that would come to the defense of this young man. And they have, and I understand there are times where you don't want to show somebody up, but does that ever stop anybody in basketball, football? Uh, anything like that? I mean, those guys celebrate a four yard first down run. They celebrate a dunk when they're down 10, they're having fun out there. That's what it's really all about. And I just, this new breed of, of player is they're just like, they're like nothing that anyone's ever seen. And I just think it's hard for some old school guys to get their heads around it. Speaker 1: 22:00 Now, might there be a cultural element at play to TCIs from the Dominican Republic players from there often show more emotion than celebration as you're talking about. And the same goes for other leagues around the world. Is this also a story about how the games involve evolving? As we see more international stuff? Speaker 4: 22:16 I don't think there's any question about it. And they play with a flair. They play with a confidence that it's just, it's not encouraged in our country. I don't know why it's not encouraged as our country baseball in our country has always been this kind of quiet, reserved Thien. And you know, I, I love that it's changing. They do it right over there and these kids, the way they play, it's just it's. They put themselves on the stage and they put the pressure on themselves and they go out and deliver. I mean, and it's, you know, I love it. I couldn't be happier. The hair, the chains, the slides, you know, it's just, they're just amazing at what they do. Speaker 1: 22:57 No, it's been more than a decade since the potters even got in the playoffs more than 20 years since they made it to the world series. Um, you wonder how the fans hang in there and how hungry are the Padres to finally have a winning team and players like tatties, even a fans can't see him in person right now. Speaker 4: 23:13 They're starved. My cohost is born and raised, uh, San Diego. And, and I, I think that, that people here are they're dying for a good team. They are just there's we can't do enough pod race content on a daily basis. So I think it's really special. I've been here a decade it's I've I've enjoyed the ride and to see these guys land here, guys, like Manny guys, like tattoos guys, like Eric Hosmer and some of the young kids coming up, it's so much fun. It really is so much fun even though yeah. We'd love to be at Petco. You know, there's a, there's a group that meets up in the fourth inning. Uh, every single, every single game, we take a big picture. Yeah. We miss all of that stuff. We miss going out and talking to the people that listen to our show, it's really, really tough, but you know what? It's so much better than nothing. And the fact that they're so much fun to watch and they leave you. And we're watching every game sitting on the edge of our seat, every single game in this short season, because they all feel like playoff games. So it's been, it's been great for us personally for our show, but I mean, even if we weren't doing a show, this is what we'd all be doing anyway. Cause we're huge, huge fans. Speaker 1: 24:22 Now, any predictions for the second half, it's a forgiving playoff format. Can the potteries find a way in, Speaker 4: 24:28 I think they have to, I mean, I've said it from the get go. If you're going to go ahead and go, go on with this season and everybody, you know, you added the pieces that you added in, in the off season and you have, at this point, if you're the potteries, you've got four healthy, legitimate starters and your, you know, your bullpen was supposed to be great. It hasn't been, if they don't make the playoffs, it's going to be mortifying because they're letting about half the teams in at this point. And the way I look at it is that the ultimate goal should be a championship every single year. Um, that being said, when you haven't made the playoffs in a decade, you get to the playoffs, you get tattoos. Some of those playoffs at bats, you get Chris paddocks and playoff innings to Nelson limits and playoff innings. It's going to go a long way. Uh, regardless if it's a short season or not, it doesn't matter. I think it's going to be invaluable experience. And I think you, 1000% have to make the playoffs. If you're the San Diego potters, you have to Speaker 1: 25:25 Root for the home team, even though the fans aren't there this season, at least I'd been speaking with Stephen Woods, cohost of Ben and woods on 97 three, the fan. Thanks, Stephen. My pleasure that wraps up another week of stories on the KPBS round table. I'd like to thank my guests, Michael Smolins of the San Diego union Tribune, Maya Tribole CEO of KPBS news and Steven Woods of radio station 97 three. The fan. If you ever miss a show, you can always catch up with the round table podcast on your favorite podcast out. Thanks for being with us today and join us again next week on the round table.