Two Democratic Congressman Nearly Come To Blows At Debate

Last night’s Vice-Presidential Debate was a veritable love fest compared to the debate that was going on in California between Congressman Howard Berman and Congressman Brad Sherman:

Think Biden-Ryan was a hard-fought debate? Then you missed the Berman-Sherman brawl up in the Valley today.

Congressman Brad Sherman put his arm around rival Congressman Howard Berman and challenged him to a fight, saying “Do you want to get into this?”

A sheriff’s deputy had to separate the two.

The pair squared off at a forum at Pierce College this afternoon. According to the Berman campaign, the confrontation arose when the two were discussing the Dream Act.

Sherman disputed that Berman had authored the legislation, at which point Berman called Sherman “delusional.”

Sherman rose to his feet — as the crowd cheered — and loudly confronted Berman. At that point, Berman took a step toward Sherman. Sherman warned him not to “get in my face,” and then moved even closer, grabbing Berman around the shoulder and saying, “You want to get into this?”

As the crowd of college students cheered and hooted, a deputy stepped up to the stage to make sure the confrontation didn’t go any further.

These two Democrats are running against each other due to redistricting, as well as California’s new Open Primary system in which they were the top two finishers. No word on whether the loser in November moves on to the WWE.

Here’s the video:

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, Congress, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Meh. That’s nothing. It’s expected. When there’s no Republican boogeyman against whom to project fear and loathing Democrats automatically go into circular firing squad mode. But the real fireworks in internecine Democrat squabbles happens when a white guy is running against a black guy, e.g., the Cardin/Mfume primary contest from a few years ago. That sort of thing truly gets ugly. It breaks down strictly along racial lines. Then an added layer of irony is that leftists can’t grasp the irony of it all.

  2. They’re trying to enter a chamber of the government where people used to beat each other with canes. So it makes sense!

  3. JKB says:

    So Paul Ryan is lucky that Joe Biden caucuses with the civil part of the Democratic Party, such as it is.

  4. EddieInCA says:

    One of these two guys will be my new Congressman. I’ve run into Sherman several times at the gym – he works out at the LA Fitness on Sepulveda, if anyone knows the area. Berman is a bit of a douche, but what is interesting is that these two guys probably agree on 99% of issues. They’re really fighting over 1% where there might be miniscule differences.

    They’re both long-time Dem Congressmen.
    They’re both Jewish.
    They’re both solidly left Democrats who can be counted on to vote with the leadership on almost everything.
    It’s all relatively silly. Either of them will serve the constituency the same way.

  5. An Interested Party says:

    But the real fireworks in internecine Democrat squabbles happens when a white guy is running against a black guy, e.g., the Cardin/Mfume primary contest from a few years ago. That sort of thing truly gets ugly.

    Written by a clueless non-native of Maryland…in the future, do some more research rather than depending on your own trite, stereotypical viewpoint…

    Then an added layer of irony is that leftists can’t grasp the irony of it all.

    Your material is getting very old and stale…surely someone as clever as you think you are can come up with some new lines…

    So Paul Ryan is lucky that Joe Biden caucuses with the civil part of the Democratic Party, such as it is.

    Indeed! These ruffuians are just so much worse than some Republicans who think that disrespectul children should be killed or that slavery was a wonderful thing

  6. Tillman says:

    @EddieInCA: So, basically, they were brawling over who gets that sweet, sweet government paycheck. I’d fight a guy for a ~$170k/year salary, and I’m a pacifist.

    Also, this is true entertainment right here. I drink for the debates, but if they actually came to fisticuffs more often, I wouldn’t need the drink.