It exists in Yiddishthe vernacular language spoken by the Jews of Eastern Europe, a word that defines Congressman Adam Schiff and is one of the words from this dialect that was incorporated into English: mentsch.
In Spanish it is equivalent, in the simplest way, to a worthy, good, high-level person. You would say: a great guy.
Schiff is a candidate for federal senator for the state of California in the elections that will end on November 5.
I found him one morning during a social event on the streets of Burbank, one of the cities he represents in California’s 30th district, which also includes Glendale, Pasadena and the city of Los Angeles, the towns of Atwater Village, Echo Park, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Mid-Wilshire, Silver Lake and West Hollywood, among others.
There he was, talking to the people who gathered around him, a calm attitude, his voice low, his gaze direct. And I tell myself: he is also a calm guy.
My wife, who has met him at events, says that: he is dedicated and serious and knows well the topics that are part of his job. Twenty-five years of journalism in Los Angeles taught me that not all elected officials are like that.
Adam Schiff is the Democratic candidate to replace Dianne Feinstein, who died last September after 30 years in the Senate.
As the event occurred in the middle of Feinstein’s legislative term, the choice is twofold: one determines who will complete the journey, until next January. The other establishes who will be the senator for six more years.
Schiff’s Republican rival is Steve Garvey, a famous former baseball player. He is 75 years old; Schiff, 64. In its endorsement of Schiff, at the beginning of October, La Opinión said: “Garvey is a candidate with no other merits than his well-deserved recognition as an athlete.”
Also in January, in the primary elections that he won, La Opinión supported Schiff. For what has been said: “Adam Schiff has stood out for a number of laws that he promoted and his meticulous and impartial work in investigations and political trials.”
On that occasion and in an interview with La Opinión, Schiff “presented his plan to address the double crisis that California is experiencing, the lack of affordable housing and the large number of people living on the streets,” wrote reporter Araceli Martínez.
Said the congressman: “one of the fastest growing segments of our society that is experiencing homelessness comes from the Latino community and we need dramatic action to attack the problem.”
Adam Schiff came to national attention when he was manager (impeachment manager) of the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, in 2019. He represented the impeachment by the Lower House in Senate hearings, at the end of which it would be rejected by 52 to 48. It was a simple majority, but the Constitution requires two-thirds: 67. Trump was saved.
The former president was accused of requesting the Ukrainian government to investigate the Biden family as a condition of sending aid already approved by Congress.
Subsequently, as is known, the House of Representatives accused Trump of the attempted coup d’état on January 6, 2021. There it was also dismissed by the Senate.
It seemed like Trump would always get his way. So when a jury finally found him guilty of all 34 criminal charges for hush money payments to a former mistress and porn actress, Stormy Daniels, Schiff commented: For a long time, Trump “has really played rope in the courts and he has gotten his way until today… I think justice has finally caught up with Donald Trump.”
But the speech with which Schiff ended the hearings is especially remembered.
There he rebuked the Republicans, trying to win their support: ‘Is there anyone among you who says, enough is enough? Strong words, which were not enough.
And he also served as a member of the special committee that investigated the assault on Congress by Donald Trump fans in January 2021.
Afterwards, almost unscathed, Trump would continue his path toward political rehabilitation that culminates in his presidential candidacy.
Schiff continued his parliamentary service.
Every time, on the front lines of the fight for justice. The most difficult, the slow, the imperfect, to which he dedicated his public life.
There he was chairman of the House Intelligence Affairs Committee. while the Democrats had the majority and control of it. The committee, then 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans, oversees all executive branch departments and agencies involved in the collection of information of military or political value.
Now, what has been said: he is running for senator from California.
The electoral campaign is about to end. The polls, whose seriousness fluctuates in these years, predict victory for him. Difficult years lie ahead, regardless of who wins the presidency. He will be in front; Trump understands it that way, which is why a couple of months ago he called him an “internal enemy” of the people.
Said Trump: A “smart president” could handle outside adversaries “quite easily,” but “what’s harder to handle are these lunatics inside us, like Adam Schiff.”
Schiff remained busy. In those days he supported the six-day strike of dialysis workers in North Hollywood. At the beginning of July, it obtained an allocation of 77 million dollars for the Zero Emissions Bus and Charging Infrastructure Project from the United States Department of Transportation, destined to the purchase of a batch of electric buses and their chargers.
He is part of the pro-immigrant wing in the House. In May, 83 congressmen addressed a letter to President Biden (with 83 signatures) in which they asked him to approve options so that millions of undocumented immigrants would have a path to citizenship, something that, as we know, did not happen.
And in March of the same year he led a request to the federal government, which he accepted, to allocate $9.34 million for the city of Los Angeles’ fight for homeless people.
Continuing with the sayings and as my grandmother Ana said, Schiff “does not mince his words.” Not because he insults or shouts, no, but because he speaks with the clarity and forcefulness expected of a leader, even when what he says is not welcome. Thus, he was one of the first Democrats to ask President Biden to withdraw from the race and give way to another candidate to face Donald Trump, already on July 17. It is no exaggeration to say that this attitude, initially a minority, had a considerable influence on Biden’s decision-making. Because the next day it was Nancy Pelosi who expressed solidarity with the call. Then the avalanche came.
A week later, he was denouncing Trump’s claim to a Christian audience that after electing him “they won’t have to vote anymore.”
“This year democracy is at stake and, if we want to save it, we must vote against authoritarianism,” said Schiff.
Adam Schiff’s campaign is the culmination of a journey of eleven consecutive terms in the House of Representatives, since 2001. Before that, he was a member of the California State Senate; Before, he worked in the law office of a judge, and before that, he studied at two of the most prestigious universities in the country: Stanford and Harvard, where he obtained a doctor of law degree in 1995.
And perhaps it will be the beginning of a new stage in the United States Senate, which will be enriched by the experience, tenacity and sense of justice of Adam Bennett Schiff. A promising leader.