ROGAN/SCHIFF: Articulate Health Care Positions at Forum

      In one of the most expensive House races in the nation, candidates Rep. James Rogan (R-27th) and opponent state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) made their first joint public appearance on Friday, facing off on popular election issues such as health care and social security, the Los Angeles Times reports. The leading candidates met at a "tightly structured" forum organized by the Regional Coalition of Government Review Councils. Candidates received cheers and jeers from the raucous crowd, which exceeded 400 and overflowed the Flintridge Preparatory School, as each delivered a two-minute opening speech and answered four previously submitted questions. Despite the strict format of the "debate," the candidates managed to take jabs at each other, such as when Rogan called major proposed legislation to overhaul health coverage a "full employment act for trial lawyers." Schiff responded that the measure "has the support of senior citizens, health care professionals and 68 Republican members of Congress" (Merl, 9/16).

The Tension Mounts
      The race between Rogan and Schiff has grown costly, with the two candidates spending a combined $7.5 million as of midsummer, and has caught the nation's interest, as Rogan was one of the House Republican managers of the impeachment case against President Clinton. Schiff's political consultant, Parke Skelton, noted that Democratic registration in the suburban Los Angeles district has been climbing, with 6,300 Democratic voters registering since the March primary election, compared to 2,400 Republican voters. Currently, Democratic registered voters in the district outnumber Republicans by about eight percentage points (Purdum, New York Times, 9/17).