California Dreamin'

The news media is trying to paint it as a "back to the future" quest--an attempt by a vain politician to recapture his former glory. But Jerry Brown is running for governor of California, an office he held for two terms in the 70s and 80s. Since I have made no secret of the fact that Jerry is "my guy" the politician I truly believe in and the reason I'm a democrat, it will come as no surprise that I'm supporting him. That and a small contribution are all that he will get from me, since I don't live in California any more (though I wish I did). The republicans are painting him as too eccentric and the other democrats are painting him as too old, but none of that really flies. The "governor moonbeam" appellation tacked on him by Mike Royko after Brown suggested California invest in telecommunication satellites was never accurate to begin with, and Royko even retracted it years later (though it likely cost Bron the presidency in 1992 nonetheless, when he was running against Bill Clinton for the nomination and was clearly the better candidate. Rose Bird, Prop 13, and the Medfly--Jerry's real political problems back in the day, are all old news. The news on Jerry now is how he moved to Oakland and became its mayor because he wanted to work in the trenches, and how on his watch crime went down and investment up in one of most infamous cities on the West Coast. And after that he won his current job as attorney general. A ploy? Perhaps. It gives him law and order credentials that he never had as governor. But he has been a good one. Now he wants his old job back. The republicans are gleefully rubbing their hands together, eager to paint him as a washed out hippie, while the lesser known democrats are crying foul, that he's essentially had his turn.

But it really comes down to this: Jerry Brown was the best governor California has ever had. Who better to lead California now? No one, that's who.

Vote Brown.