Sherman and Berman rag on each other all weekend

The entertainment highlight of the Democratic Party's state convention this weekend in San Diego was apparently the unusually harsh words from Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman, aimed at each other. Sherman came out swinging at Berman's support from super PACs and at one point said he had a handwriting expert on hand in case Berman's people messed with the endorsement ballots. Berman, for his part, asked the assembled Democrats: "Do you find it slightly pathetic that a guy who represents twice as much of the (newly drawn) district, started with $2 million more in cash on hand, finds it necessary this early in the campaign to spend all his time attacking and distorting his opponent's record? Maybe a little insecurity here?" John Myers of Capital Notes has audio of the exchanges, which the politics website Calbuzz calls "two of the most bitter political speeches in memory."

Delegates favored Sherman in the Valley primary race but he fell short of the 60% needed for an official endorsement. That's a win for Berman, says Calbuzz:

It’s a full-on personal embarrassment because these were his people – Democratic club activists and Roberts Rules of Order propeller heads he spent years cultivating while Berman was busy working to shape American foreign policy in the Mideast.

File photo of Berman, left, and Sherman from the Jewish Journal