Jerry Brown back on top after scorning Dems - Frontrunner for governor in CA.

[jefferson_dem]

Jerry Brown back on top after scorning Dems
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Saturday, April 25, 2009

(04-25) 04:00 PDT Sacramento - --

State Attorney General Jerry Brown enters the state Democratic convention today favored to be the party's next candidate for governor - but the irony of that development is not lost on Democrats who remember when Brown quit the party a decade ago after sharply criticizing Democratic leaders before the very same audience.

<SNIP>

With more than a year to go before the 2010 primaries, the recollections underscore Brown's astonishingly varied four decades at the epicenter of state politics - and what some say has been a lifelong political evolution.

"Jerry Brown has more than nine lives," marvels Cal State Sacramento political science Professor Michael Semler.

As Democrats meet this weekend in Sacramento to size up next year's statewide candidates - and Brown's potential third-term gubernatorial run - some political analysts say those lives will be dissected again.

While critics suggest that political opportunism is at play, supporters say Brown's varied roles in public life - as mayor, secretary of state and governor - have evidenced an independence, strong progressive convictions and a dogged willingness to speak out on issues.

And, they note, he maintains a strong core of support among the party's grassroots. A new statewide poll by San Francisco-based Tulchin Research shows Brown with 31 percent of support from Democratic primary voters, almost a 2-1 lead over his nearest potential gubernatorial competitor, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom with 16 percent, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa with 12 percent.

The poll shows Brown with a clear lead among Californians in every major media market - even the San Francisco Bay Area - as well as with voters of both genders and all education levels.

<SNIP>

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/25/MN1B177VN1.DTL

[NMDemDist2]

1. talk about coming full circle.... n/t

[midnight]

2. Good. Maybe now California can get back on track with better

energy policies.

[zeemike]

3. And what many may have forgotten is that he ran for president.

In 1990.
And he ran as a populist and refused to take donations more than 100 dollars...he traveled and stayed at supporters homes to save money.
I remember it because I ran as a delegate for him and gave him 100 bucks. Not that I thought he had a prayer of a chance to win but to support the idea of populism and an end to the money of politics.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. There wasn't a presidential election in 1990

[zeemike]

5. Well I sometimes get the dates wrong

But it I guess was in 92 primaries when Clinton was running for his first term.
It seems like so long ago.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. Probably why he lost.

And I voted for him.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. LOL

[Arkana]

61. That might explain why he wasn't ever elected.

:evilgrin:

[theblasmo]

7. Worked for him

I helped in Oklahoma. Still proud of it.

[rpannier]

45. I voted for him in the primaries

He was the first guy to use the 1-800 system for raising money.

His campaign was Dean before the internet

[MadHound]

6. Good for Jerry, glad to see he's back

I always thought it was a shame he never got the nomination, but given that he speaks truth to power, even Democratic power, the party wasn't going to give him a chance, much like they're doing with Kucinich. Even though both have been right on the issues, they still get painted as flakes and crazy by members of their own party.

[mother earth]

8. You cannot listen to Jerry Brown without knowing he has the best

interest at heart for this country...the man is true blue and his integrity absolutely shines! CA is fortunate indeed.

The truth is not always easy, but this man embodies it always. Isn't that truly what makes Dems, Dems? It's the very thing that separates us from the GOP and the best thing about us, IMHO.

[elleng]

31. The truth is RARELY easy,

especially in politics.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. I hope he runs

Love Jerry. From way back.

[NYC_SKP]

10. Jerry Rocks, Damn I hope he wins.

They don't come any better.
He was MY governor, after Reagan.
He swore off the new Reagan governor's mansion and the limo, instead staying in his apartment and driving a state-owned Plymouth Fury I.

Love him! :loveya:

Super smart, too!

[goclark]

13. He'll get my vote before Antonio

Antonio has done nothing of worth for Los Angeles, IMO.

[LooseWilly]

48. He used to walk to work in Oakland.

I'd see him around town here and there. Chatted with him once or twice too (as one of several cab drivers at a downtown cab stand, at an independent art gallery where he tentatively leaned in the door to glance at the work on the walls).

He's a strange guy. Ironically a better mayor than Dellums, but less willing/able to express himself in a conversation (Dellums was still getting haircuts in West Oakland back in '99, while working with some sort of international organization looking out for child rights... before he was drafted to be Oakland's mayor).

For all that I like Jerry though, I think I'll be throwing my vote to Gavin Newsom. That decision in '04 to unilaterally declare that civil unions are discriminatory and that San Francisco was suddenly going to recognize the right to same sex marriage... doing right and let the chips fall where they will... I think this country needs more of that, and it'd be nice for California to be in the lead, rather than lagging... (though I do have to give Jerry credit for, as Attorney General, refusing to defend prop 8, and instead joining the coalition attacking it in the courts...)

A tough call. Two good candidates.
Now I just hope to see a good candidate challenging Feinstein in the primary... lest I should have to vote for a Green or Libertarian or something. After Mukasey and the telecom immunity, the last doubt that Feinstein was benefiting from has faded...

[saltpoint]

14. Give us news of the future, Californians. Is this a Democratic year for

the gubernatorial race or will voters turn to Whitman or some other GOP hack for that race?

[SamCooke]

15. Gavin Newsom is the way to go. New leadership is needed

Why no love for Gavin?

[NYC_SKP]

17. I've nothing against Gavin.

Nice guy, I met him last year.

I'd support him over all the other candidates except for one thing.

Jerry Brown is running.

He's a visionary, he's a big-picture thinker, he calls bullshit on bullshit.

I like that in him.

"At the podium, Brown was sharply critical of President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein over their support of what he called a "fascistic" and "phony" anti-terrorism bill...

...In a March 1998 opinion piece in The Chronicle, he explained his "disenchantment" with the Democratic Party as his rationale for becoming a nonpartisan voter.

"Both major parties today are for sale and available to any candidate with a sufficient bankroll," he charged.

"The major political parties no longer offer genuine alternatives, just genuine business enterprises," he wrote. "In a real sense, Democrats represent only a softer, fuzzier version of harder-edge Republicans."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/24/MN1B177VN1.DTL&type=politics

[Hellataz]

19. Love for Gavin right here! I'm pulling for him.

But he may be too progressive to be the democratic pick to take on the GOP's candidate, Based on some of the things that have passed lately like prop 8, i think a very left progressive who is very vocal for legalizing gay marriage and universal healthcare, might not win. That's sad for me to say about my state who i always thought was very liberal, but prop 8 passing surprised me.

[JI7]

23. Newsom is losing to JErry Brown even in his own area

[LooseWilly]

51. The Bay Area is Brown's area too...

Since he was mayor of Oakland.

Brown was fairly pragmatic, but he was also damned lucky as mayor... having been there for a good portion of the dot com boom... one of the only real points I can recall when prosperity actually started lapping at the shores of Oakland (an oversight which was quickly remedied...)

All the while though, I remember hearing Newsom going on the radio to address issues and problems in SF, while Jerry reduced public appearances (unless you saw him walking to work on the streets, and count that) as things unravelled for Oakland.

Not that I blame Brown for what went down in Oakland... and things only got worse once he left... but Newsom always seemed more engaged.

[Honu one]

40. I agree with Gavin on every level politically and think he's a super nice and personable guy, but

I think his past actions have shown him to be a person of questionable moral character. I sincerely hope he doesn't win the nom, because I don't think I could vote for him.

I'm all in for Jerry though.

[CreekDog]

42. Who was the better mayor? Newsom of SF or Brown of Oakland?

I know my answer.

[LooseWilly]

49. I think it'd be a hard call

I know much more about how Brown did in Oakland. He gave hope. He had ideas "10,000 new residents in downtown". He drew in development. He was a friend of gentrification... which Oakland needed a spot of in a bad way.
But then the dot com bubble burst. The monies evaporated. People began disappearing (because they could find other places to live, I suppose).
There was a period for a couple of months in early 2002 when Oakland had no rush hour. Early 2001 rush hour ran from about 2pm to 7pm. Early 2002 there was no rush hour.

Oakland never had a chance in the face of that. (And no, it wasn't just 9/11. The local economy started shrinking around April of '01).
All the new development that Jerry managed to draw to Oakland continued, development esoterica/inertia wouldn't allow it to stop at that point... but half of the new downtown development is still, to this day, vacant.

From what I saw, as the economic doldrums set in, Brown had an increasingly low profile.

So I'd judge Newsom to have been the better mayor. Of course, I bet there are some similar complaints about Newsom that I just don't know about... and San Francisco is never in as precarious an economic situation as Oakland... so it's almost not a fair comparison.

On the other hand, Jerry's number two man, Ignacio de la Fuente, pretty much pissed on us cab drivers... so maybe my grudge is just carrying over to Jerry. Maybe rightfully so...

[Ken Burch]

62. His habit of destroying homeless encampments in the middle of the night with no warning

was not that endearing.

Especially when he tried to tie himself to RFK's legacy. Bobby could be a tough guy, but he was never ever a poorbasher.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Gavin Newsom will give him a run for his money. Maybe DiFi too.

I predict a very exciting primary ahead!

[Drunken Irishman]

18. I hope Brown wins.

Though I'm not from California, I think he's the best Democrat with the best shot.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. I thought Jerry Brown was term limited out.

He was, I believe, a two term governor. What's the rule in California?

Good guy, very much ahead of his time, I volunteered for him in 1992 when he ran for president against Clinton and I'd like to see him win, but I'm just curious.

[JI7]

24. the term limits happened after he served as Governor, so they don't apply

to the years he already served.

[bklyncowgirl]

36. Thanks, I was wondering about that. nt

[rucky]

21. It's like he's the only Democrat that California is able to produce.

I love Jerry Brown, but in what's supposed to be a major liberal stronghold, the field of dems is pretty shallow.

[JI7]

25. individual areas are liberal but the state as a whole is different

that's why Feinstein is popular statewide and why we keep electing moderate Republican Governors.

the few areas california is liberal on is abortion rights, gun control, and marijuana. as long as Republican Candidates support abortion rights and gun control they have a good chance at winning state wide.

i will say our courts are probably more liberal.

and remember California has supported things like anti immigration, anti affirmative action and anti gay propositions.

[Drunken Irishman]

33. And that's why Newsom would get his butt kicked.

He won't win the 'other' part of California.

Brown has proven he can and is still very well liked there.

[LooseWilly]

50. I think the tipping factor is name recognition.

That's part of why Jerry ran for AG, to up his name recognition in California. Ironically, the teamsters in Oakland thought that they could extract a little more cooperation from him in terms of putting pressure on his protege in Oakland, de la Fuente, in exchange for support for the statewide run. Jerry apparently knew he didn't need no stinking teamsters... or maybe his man who's still president of the city council just told him to go fuck himself... either way, Jerry's man left the Teamsters swinging in the breeze.

State AG is higher profile than SF mayor, sort of. On the other hand, Jerry made a point of refusing to defend prop 8 before the State Supreme Court, even going so far as to join the opposition attacking the proposition, and forcing the supporters to hire a lawyer themselves to defend the proposition in court. So he's pretty associated with gay rights here too.

And Newsom's bucking everyone and giving his blessing to same sex marriages in SF until Schwarzenegger legally ordered him to stop seems likely to generate the same sort of courage to stand up for shit associations that Jerry Brown has a rep for.

On the other hand... I have no idea what people think in Fresno, Bakersfield, Redding, Anaheim Hills, Palm Springs, or Eureka think. Though, SF & LA together outvote the rest of the state with ease. The real frame is old-school (Brown) vs new-school (Newsom). Villaraigosa is something of a wildcard... and I'd be interested in hearing from some LA folks regarding their estimation of his standing...

[goclark]

58. Antonio is a "paper cut out" and IMO LA is not in love with him

He is all show and no go.
goclark from LA

[Retrograde]

22. way to get a Republican elected

The Republicans don't have a strong state-wide candidate - you have to be real whack job to make it through the California Republican primaries these days - and the Democrats have a chance to take back the governorship if they run a half-way decent person. The "Governor Moonbeam" nonsense aside, I'm not impressed with how Brown handled his two terms as mayor of Oakland. The city was a mess before him, it's a mess after him, and the GOP is going to use that to attack him hard. Newsom has baggage as well, but at least he can run as a new face, and can point to some actual initiatives on his part - even though his attempts to legalize Gay marriage were struck down.

[LooseWilly]

52. Hehe... the city was a mess... and it's still a mess...

Dude, that's just Oakland. In Oakland it's a matter of degree of mess. And on that score, Brown actually didn't do badly.

I agree, I lean toward Newsom... but I find it extremely interesting that you should comment about Brown's mayorship of Oakland as you do. It's clearly a voice that doesn't know Oakland, but then again, a whole lot of California doesn't know Oakland... and that's generally something admitted with a sigh of relief behind closed doors...
I'm also mildly fascinated that you see the idea of facing a challenge the likes of Oakland, and not failing miserably, is grounds for attack for not having turned it into a gentrified suburban haven in the midst of an economic bubble implosion. You might be right, but I'm not sure what should offend me most about that truth.

I agree though. The new face of California. Perhaps even an eventual president from California who isn't a fucking Republican... Perhaps. I'll be voting for Newsom...

[Vidar]

26. I proudly wrote in Jerry Brown as presidntial candate in 1976.

Glad to hear he may save California yet again.

[shanti]

27. never thought i'd be voting for a gubernatorial candidate twice!

jerry brown was the first person i ever voted for in 1976. i even have my brown button:)

[Arugula Latte]

28. Jerry was my gov. when I was a kid ... This is like a weird time warp. nt

[PufPuf23]

29. Good News Jerry Brown is a good man that is a true

populist and is not a self-serving politician.

The biggest drawbacks in his politicval career have been his high ethical standards and being a capable visionary.

As a Californian, I say cool!

[Ken Burch]

30. If he wins, is he gonna cave to the right again like he did on Prop. 13?

And will he send unemployed kids to camps again(see "California Uber Alles, by the Dead Kennedys).

I was never sure why anybody thought Brown was a progressive hero.

[960]

32. The last thing we need is ol' moonbeam back in charge

[saltpoint]

34. The man who branded Brown with that nickname, Mike Royko, a Chicago

columnist, later acknowledged Brown's effectiveness as a State administrator and apologized for his short-sightedness.

- - -

While Mr. Brown admits that his personal exploits may have sometimes overshadowed his accomplishments, he takes exception to the widespread idea that he is anything like the oddball politician the columnist Mike Royko dubbed ''Governor Moonbeam'' in the late 1970's after Mr. Brown suggested that California launch its own satellite. (Mr. Royko apologized many years later and retracted the nickname.)

New York TIMES, June 5, 2006
- - -

Brown's a good man.

He'd make a great governor. Again.

[960]

37. I know some of Brown's top aides, and have met Brown.

I'm not going to criticize his past public service, but we need to move forward.

[saltpoint]

41. No case can be made, IMO, that a Brown gubernatorial win would

suggest anything but moving forward.

He is a progressive of long standing.

[960]

43. oooookay then.

[saltpoint]

44. Brown's candidacy in 1992 was one of the most interesting campaigns

within the Democratic Party ever.

This was a fairly crowded field that included Paul Tsongas, Jerry Brown, Tom Harkin, Bob Kerrey, and Bill Clinton.

Harkin ran as a favorite son in Iowa and got 76% of the vote in the Iowa caucus. No one else put much money or organization into Iowa, as it was Harkin's turf. Favorite sons (or daughters) don't always win, but when they do lose, it's big news. In 1968 Governor Brannigan of Indiana ran a favorite son campaign but lost to Robert F. Kennedy.

In New Hampshire in 92 Paul Tsongas won with 33% and Bill Clinton, after a few weeks of dodging questions about running around on his wife, came in second at 25%. Bob Kerrey (11%), Tom Harkin (10%), and Jerry Brown (8%) followed, all doing better than they thought they would do in snowy New England.

The candidate who might have canceled Tsongas and Clinton out withdrew from the primary race on the eve of the deadline for entry. Mario Cuomo was the Big Guy. As much a NH neighbor as Tsongas and with none of the baggage of Clinton. He was expected to enter the NH primary for some months. A plane had been fueling on the tarmac in Albany on the night before the deadline which would carry Cuomo to NH to announce his candidacy. We know only that a telephone call occurred while the plane was fueling between Cuomo and Bill Clinton. After he hung up, Cuomo went outside to the tarmac, paid and thanked the pilot, but told him to put the plane inside, that no flight to New Hampshire would occur.

We don't know who called whom or what exactly was discussed.

Cuomo still drew 4% of the 1992 New Hampshire primary vote as a write-in.

Jerry Brown was the only challenger who survived the field against Clinton that year. Clinton hewed to the middle. Brown appealed to the more progressive faction. A glimpse into how he upset a few apple carts in 1992 is here:

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/35501

--but the best account is in Joan Didion's essay, "Eyes on the Prize," a razor-sharp assessment of the 1992 campaign generally and the Democratic Convention especially. Didion owns the arena when she sits down to write about politics.

Many of us who position our personal ideologies well to the left of Bill Clinton found in Jerry Brown's 1992 presidential campaign not a hopeless quixotic gadfly but a principled stalwart of the average American. I got to meet him in Arizona for the Arizona primary that year. He lacked the aw-shucks personability of a Mo Udall, for example, and the welcoming smile of a Jimmy Carter. Certainly he lacked the money of his far-better financed opponents.

I don't have one thing against Gavin or any other Dems in the 2010 gubernatorial race in California. If Gavin becomes the Party's nominee for Governor, and were I still in California as a resident, I would vote for him against any of the Pukes being mentioned. But not over Brown in the primary.

Jerry Brown is in the lead at the moment. He's a thoughtful and forward-looking soul. He offers significant diversity of adult experience. IMO being Mayor of Oakland is a tougher job than being Mayor of San Francisco. He's more hard-boiled than he was in 1992 -- being an Attorney General or on earth generally will do that to a person -- but he has staying power because he remains a principled progressive.

[LooseWilly]

53. Quite the resume you collected for Jerry.

I also voted for him in the primary in '92 (I was out of the country for the actual election... not that it mattered as a Californian). I've lived in Oakland under Jerry Brown's administration. In fact the real estate investment company that owned the warehouse where I lived even gave Jerry a loft space in the Sears building that they'd recently renovated. It was never clear on the streets whether he had to pay for it or not. Maybe it was a trade on the loft space that he had down in the warehouse district.

Being mayor of Oakland is definitely a harder job than mayor of San Francisco. Oakland has its ports, and... uhh... a couple of corporations (Kaiser, Clorox...) ... and the court systems that go with being the county seat. That's 90% of the city economy... unless you count drugs and prostitution... after which re-calculation all of the above amount to no more than 70% of the city's economy.

That said though... I can't help but feel that Newsom seemed to remain more engaged in SF's problems, while Brown seemed to "disengage" more an more as the dot com bubble burst left Oakland sliding back inexorably to the economic doldrums that were so much a part of its defining characteristics. And I can't imagine a more principled progressive than Newsom after that move to declare domestic partnerships as not equal to marriage, and to allow same sex marriages in SF until shut down by Sacramento.

Though Brown did refuse to defend prop 8 before the Supreme Court... and instead joined those attacking it before the court, thereby forcing the supporteres to hire their own representation.

I love Jerry Brown... but after Newsom made the incredibly courageous stand to support gay marriage in the face of the trends of '04... He's got my vote.

[saltpoint]

56. Gavin did himself pretty proud, I thought, on the subject of

whether lesbians and gay men should be afforded the same privilege of marriage available to anyone else in the nation.

Both of these folks seem to do better at it than other Democrats in other places. We are getting a California-transfused national dialogue with these two Democrats and not a Ben Nelson or Evan Bayh baby-food social agenda.

'Can understand your casting a vote for Newsom and as I've posted on DU before, I'd support him if he prevails in the primary. Right now polling indicates Brown has the advantage. It could get interesting.

Newsom had to be engaged enough in his city to withstand a strong challenge by Matt Gonzalez, who did very well in that race. The Left is more visible in the Bay Area generally, so I give credit to Newsom for his smarts. I had left the city by then but thought that Gonzalez could not have done as well as he did if the Left had not been as discontented with Newsom (especially outspent as Gonzalez was by as much as he was) but also that Newsom had to have a lot on the ball to withstand such a fierce and well-managed assault.

I'll be rooting hard for whichever Democrat prevails in the primary and hope that we can keep the loathsome Meg Whitman far, far away from real power.

[saltpoint]

35. A pretty good overview here from Brown's website:

http://www.jerrybrown.org/about

[Forkboy]

38. "I am Governor Jerry Brown. My aura smiles and never frowns."

C'mon...everybody sing it with me!! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW8ZGd0NXpo

[LooseWilly]

54. Hehe... but did you know?

That the Dead Kennedy's were "killed" by Tipper Gore? (Guess why I voted for Nader).

On the other hand, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBAkOifDeSw

Yes, that's a link to the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy... doing an updated cover of California Uber Alles... but there's no sound. You know why? Because it turns out that Jello Biafra is a douchebag... and he won't allow a release so that an updated cover talking shit about Pete Wilson can be aired on YouTube.

Of course, after the way he got screwed by Tipper Gore... who can blame him for being a flaming asshole.
But the funniest part was when a gutterpunk at Gilman St. (punk rock club in Berkeley CA) told me and some others about how a guy had stumbled in the pit, some punks had tripped over and stepped on him... and how he'd gotten up, announced that he was Jello Biafra, and then tried to collect names of the gutter punks that had stepped on him, so that he could bill them, or sue them at his leisure...
He seemed shocked, as I hear it, when the gutter punks proceeded to beat him down again when he asked for their names.

Maybe we're all half wits here in California...

On the other hand... Jello might still have a limp.

[MurrayDelph]

39. Jerry Brown has been a very good Attorney General

(and I have a friend who works for him who says so).

But this does not take away from the fact that he was a lousy governor.

His response to Prop 13 was like the bully parent saying "You want to cry? I'll give you something to cry about." To show that he could be "fiscally responsible," he unilaterally rescinded a raise that have been promised to state workers (including my future wife) who had gone without for several years to help him balance his budget.

And the roads of California have yet to recover from the deliberate neglect his administration put us through. His CalTrans director Adriana Gianturco took away existing lanes from the busiest freeways in Los Angeles for carpools, without thought to buffer zones or merging areas, so that the traffic immediately went from bad to terrible. Their response: "Californians are just going to have to give up their love of driving" and "If we make it as unpleasant as possible, they will be forced to give up their cars"

The problem was, they did not provide any alternatives. L.A. did not (and still does not) have a reasonable alternative. To get from my home in the valley, I would have to drive my car to "train station" (actually a bus on a private road) several miles away, take the bus to a train, change trains twice, and then walk a couple of blocks to my office (all of which would take about two hours), or I can drive my car the 26 miles to the office directly, and park in my blue zone spot (which takes about an hour).

I remember an article in the Times 15 years ago, when Gianturco gloated about the introduction of carpool lanes on the freeway as vindication for what she did, but she neglected to acknowledge that the new diamond lanes were created by widening the freeway, not by taking away existing space.

At this point, the only way I could see myself voting for Brown again would be if he was running against Villaraigosa. And, even then, I would be holding my nose.

[LooseWilly]

55. Uhh, just out of curiosity...

Does that mean that you're from LA and not a big Villaraigosa fan?

Cause I'm in Oakland, but leaning toward Newsom. Which, I guess, might be a call into question of my Brown support. FOr me it's a close thing between the two of them... but you sound like your anti-Brown feelings are exceeded only by your anti-Villaraigosa feelings.
Is that a fair and accurate paraphrasing? If so... does that mean you're pro Newsom (even if just by default)? Or, just pissed off?

[MurrayDelph]

57. Born in downtown L.A.

and a lot of my anti-Brown feeling is based on what he did the last time he was governor, and fear he would do it again.

My anti-Villaraigosa feelings are based on crap he is doing right now, which includes having first attempted (illegally) to take over control of LAUSD (which is an independent organization. When that failed, he financed the campaign to put cronies on the board), his union-busting activities (small unions only; the big ones he is trying to court), the obviousness of turning the police into more of a revenue stream than they were before (by adding a "surcharge" for being given a citation), and trying to take things that have already been paid for, and adding a "revenue enhancement" to it (such as his attempts to turn the carpool lanes of the freeways into a toll lane).

And keep in mind, that in Los Angeles, the mayor is (supposedly) a non-partisan office, where the primary is held in February, and if no candidate gets more than 50.1% of the vote, a runoff is held. Well Tony V did win the election, but just barely: he outspent his opponent by more than 15:1, and got just over the 50% necessary. But the total number of votes, in a city with almost 4 million people, was less than 10,000 TOTAL.

And while I hear that Newsom has had the same kind of zipper trouble that little Tony has, I guess it's a matter of him not having pissed in MY backyard, so of the three of them, I guess he would be my preference.

Oh, and the fact that I believe I have good reasoning does not mean that I am not pissed off, too.

[bottomtheweaver]

46. Governor Moonbeam gets my vote.

It's a cult thang!

[tomreedtoon]

47. A bucket of fried...er, broiled...chicken could be governor now.

After Schwartzenegger, that soccer ball with a face drawn on it in blood, from that Tom Hanks movie, looks like an improvement as governor. And could simultaneously be an improvement over the governor of Alaska.

(Note on edit: my own state just got rid of Governor Duuuuh (a.k.a. Dubya's smarter brother) and we now have "Jesus" Crist running the place. So I know from lousy governors.)

[WI_DEM]

59. I don't think Brown will be the nominee. Given his statewide recognition 31% is not that great.

[frazzled]

60. Remember "psychic dollars"?

He famously said teachers in the California system didn't need a raise because they were paid in "psychic dollars." It caused quite the uproar back in the day.

In our household we still jokingly offer to pay in "psychic dollars" whenever we can't afford something.

I'm afraid a recession and huge budget shortfall is not the time to return to someone who is speaking in psychic dollars.