He lost the race for mayor of L.A. to Karen Bass, but now businessman and developer Rick Caruso has a new political project. He's putting his financial weight behind Democratic Congressional candidates to help them unseat Republicans.
Is his long-term goal to garner favor for a future political office run?
Caruso told Charles Feldman on L.A.'s Afternoon News, "Well, what I'm up to is what I talked about during the campaign, I want to have moderate Democrats taking office." We need to find common ground, and we need to have elected officials that are actually getting out there and working for families and making changes."
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He said there are problems at all levels of government, and it will take what he calls "Caruso Democrats," who are pro-business and socially liberal, to make the necessary changes.
Caruso's dialogue and spending are reminiscent of his tactics during the L.A. mayoral election, leading some to believe it's all building up to more than helping moderates get in office.
However, when pressed for an answer, Caruso said he's simply, "Aiming for change." And when it comes to his plans to run for office, he said, "No, I'm not. I'm not right now."
Caruso has been taking meetings in Washington with people he says understand how to reach across the aisle, find common ground, and get to work. He insists he does not expect anything in return for helping those he believes are 'Caruso Democrats.'
When asked how he thinks Karen Bass is doing as mayor, Caruso said, "I think she's doing just fine," and everyone should support her and her efforts to get things done.
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