Last night I attended the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council meeting because I wanted to speak to that organization and I also wanted to see my opponent in the 28th Congressional District, Adam Schiff.
Much to my surprise, as I park and exit my vehicle, who do I see doing the exact same thing 20 feet away?
Adam Schiff!
I went up to him and introduced myself, shook hands and talked with him for a few minutes.
I explained that I was running against him, and that I respected him as an individual-- but I just didn't agree with his ideology or philosophies.
He didn't seem surprised or upset and generally handled it very well, even asking me a few questions about myself.
When the meeting started, the Neighborhood Council showed its usual fawning deference to elected officials and allowed Schiff to speak first and answer questions for about 10 minutes.
While I don't consider Schiff to be a charismatic or energetic leader, he was smooth and practiced in his delivery and his answers. He even admitted that his current offices would have to be moved because with the new boundary lines, his offices are now outside the district.
To be quite honest, it was a disappointing experience for me because I didn't see a lot of areas to attack him on. He seems like a pleasant and inoffensive bureaucrat. Kind of like Eric Garcetti. It is difficult to run against candidates that nobody seems to hate.
After Schiff spoke, the Neighborhood Council "went on a break" as people socialized and mingled for about 15 minutes.
Later on, the Neighborhood Council realized they wouldn't have a quorum to discuss business and they decided to cancel the rest of the meeting. I was slightly irritated that I didn't get to speak...but being as there were only about 20 people there, I didn't feel like it made that big of a difference.
I don't have a campaign meme for Adam Schiff yet.
"Freedom Hating Liberal" is Joe Barrett.
"Budget Destroying Socialist" is Paul Krekorian.
I am going to have to give some serious thought to this Adam Schiff character.
A review of his voting record in Congress might give me some new ideas.
