Brown to the Rescue

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 2, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

            Throwing his hat into the ring, 71-year-old former Gov. and current State Atty. Gen. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. announced his candidacy today for governor of California.  With 53-year-old multimillionaire Republican former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman announcing her candidacy Sept. 22, 2009 and already running a vigorous ad campaign, Brown felt inclined to jump in.  Running unopposed in the Democratic Party, Brown carries with him the gravitas of holding several state offices, including governor from Jan. 6, 1975 to Jan. 3, 1983, years of balanced budgets, prosperity and California supremacy.  He followed the late President Ronald Reagan into the statehouse, redeeming his father’s, Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown’s, legacy, after years of Reagan austerity.  At a time of recession and record budget deficits, Brown offers his public service as a way of fixing a broken state.

            Expectations were high when voters tossed out former Gov. Gray Davis, launching 62-year-old former champion bodybuilder and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger into office Nov. 17, 2003 in an unprecedented special election.  Voters were disgusted with Davis after years of runaway energy prices, caused mostly by rapacious out-of-state energy suppliers.  Voters’ high hopes for Arnold were dashed quickly as the state battled recession, piled up massive deficits and ground to a halt under the worst partisan gridlock in state history.  Whoever inherits the mess next January, they face budget shortfalls, record deficits, in part caused by the worst recession since the Great Depression.  Schwarzenegger offered a fresh face but couldn’t get along with either Democratic or Republican elected officials, causing the current paralysis in California politics.

            Brown offers unparalleled experience and leadership, having held several state and local offices, with an insider’s working knowledge of state government.  Like his father “Pat,” Jerry understands that the needs of state residents are such that elected officials have a deep obligation to make government work.  Whitman promises to run Sacramento like a publicly traded corporation, slashing budgets wherever she sees fit.  Her campaign ads promise to run the state like she ran Ebay, where the bottom line takes priority over the state’s fiscal and social obligations.  “What we need is not a scripted plan cooked up by consultants or mere ambition to be governor,” said Brown in a Web cast.  “We need someone with insider’s knowledge but an outsider’s mind, a leader who can pull people together . . . An a this stage of my life, I’m prepared to focus on nothing else but fixing this state I love.”

            Apart from Brown’s extensive statewide political experience, he’s a charismatic leader—an articulate voice with a keen intelligence for elected office.  Brown runs unopposed, facing either Whitman or 53-year-old former Silicon Valley multimillionaire Republican state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poisner.  Brown, a U.C. Berkeley and Yale Law School graduate, faces formidable challenges from either Whitman or Poisner, both MBAs from Harvard and Stanford, respectively.  Academic credentials won’t sway California voters looking for more jobs and an end to one of the worst recessions in state history.  Both Whitman and Poisner promise to run the state like a cold-hearted business but can’t answer how they plan to get along with a heavily Democratic legislature, already in gridlock with a Republican governor, who promised new leadership and bipartisanship in 2003.

            Raising $12 million in campaign donations before today’s announcement, Brown is the only candidate who won’t reach into his own pocket to fund his campaign.  Whitman has already given her campaign $39 million since announcing her interest in statewide office in Feb. 09.  She expects to spend up to $100 million from her personal fortune, signaling her intent to make the governor’s race the costliest in state history.  Poisner, too, has a bottomless piggy bank, having already given his campaign $19 million to begin TV ads, primarily designed to upend Whitman.  Recent Public Policy Institute polling indicated that Brown leads hypothetical match-ups with Whitman and Poiser by 5% to 15%, respectively.  Whitman and Poisner have already hammered Brown as a big government liberal, despite his personal frugality and fiscal conservatism as the state’s 34th governor.

            Brown’s announcement for governor signals his intent to respond to barbs thrown by his opponents before next Fall’s election.  With so much at stake in the next election, voters must look for a steady hand to lead the state during a time of economic and political upheaval.  Schwarzenegger couldn’t deliver his promise to lead both Democrats and Republicans, instead left state government in abysmal gridlock.  More empty promises by GOP candidates to somehow get along with a Democratic legislature won’t turn things around anytime soon.  Whitman and Poisner talk the GOP talk but they can’t answer the basic question of how they plan to work with Democratic elected officials.  Blaming the state’s woes on labor unions or state employees won’t change the paralysis threatening the state’s solvency.  Any leader who hopes to be governor must put the people's needs before personal ambition.  Neither Whitman nor Poisner can explain how they plan to get along with Democrats.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.