Berman trails Sherman in poll (and in shul-hopping?)

An independent poll released late last week had Rep. Howard Berman trailing Rep. Brad Sherman big time. As the L.A. Times reported:

Rep. Brad Sherman had a 13-point lead over fellow Democratic Rep. Howard Berman, according to a poll taken for KABC Channel 7.

Conducted by SurveyUSA, the poll is the first independent sampling of voters released since the June primary, in which Sherman finished 10 percentage points ahead of Berman for the San Fernando Valley congressional district seat.

According to the poll, Sherman led Berman 45%-32% among likely voters. But 23% of respondents said they had not yet made up their minds.

The two veteran California Democrats are in a redistricting-fueled battle. Sherman beat Berman by 10 points in the open primary that advanced the two Jewish congressmen into the general election

[[READMORE]]

While Berman may have the backing of most of the California congressional delegation, local elected officials and various Hollywood machers, he’s having trouble catching up with the scrappy Sherman and his knack for retail politics (not to mention Sherman’s advantage of having represented far more of the newly drawn district than Berman does).

Speaking of retail politics, Sherman appears to also be out shul-hopping Berman. As the L.A. Jewish Journal reported:

According to two reliable sources, Rep. Howard Berman spent Rosh Hashanah at his synagogue, Adat Ari El in Valley Village. Rep. Brad Sherman, meanwhile, made his way to Temple Judea in Tarzana on the first evening of Rosh Hashana, Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills the following morning and then to his own temple, Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, on the second day.

Read the full item for an interesting discussion of which L.A. pols spent time at which synagogues over Rosh Hashanah.