LOS ANGELES — Rep. Karen Bass and Rick Caruso both found themselves on the defensive Thursday evening as a quintet of moderators pressed them on an array of pain points during an hourlong live debate.
If either candidate had a wish list for uncomfortable topics they hoped their opponent might be pushed on, they probably saw it fulfilled — albeit while parrying their own laundry list of attack-line questions.
The rhetorical daggers flew fast and furious between the candidates, with Bass attempting to portray the real estate developer as a shape-shifting opportunist who voters can’t fully know or trust. Caruso, in turn, aimed to characterize the congresswoman as an entrenched creature of the establishment who doesn’t have the chops to pull Los Angeles out of crisis.
