the weird thing is

   that Jerry hasn't officially announced yet, so right now there are no Democratic candidates running for Governor. Nobody for Guv is leading the entire GOP field, too.

   I can understand why being CA Governor right now isn't the most desirable job, but really...

   There are a lot of people I would rather see as Gov than Jerry, but for whatever reason they are not running. Among those would be two excellent statewide officials who are running for reelection to their current jobs, Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Controller John Chiang. Lt Gov John Garamendi, who was running earlier for Gov, is about to be elected to the House of Representatives (better job; no term limits). There are a few sitting members of the House I would prefer, but Jerry has the name recognition, the money and experience, too. The first time I ever voted for Governor was for Jerry's reelection (back in 1978). His father, Edmund G Brown Sr ("Pat") was the best Governor CA ever had. Brown Jr was a mixed bag but way better than anything the Greedy Old Party will be running this year.  Oh well, whatever...

52, male, disgruntled Democrat, CA-28

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by: Zack from the SFV @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 02:24:03 AM UTC

interesting

Something I haven't seen noted: Jerry Brown was the one who signed Phillip Burton's redistricting plan in the 1980s, so he probably (hopefully) won't be a redistricting moralist this time around either.

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by: gs @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 02:35:40 AM UTC

I said this in the Daily Digest,

But it bears repeating.

I hope Fienstien runs, resigns from her senate seat, and looses the primary.  

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

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by: daman09 @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 03:05:24 AM UTC

DiFi won't run

   and even if she did, she would not have to resign her seat to do it. She would only have to resign if she were elected Governor, and would then choose her successor. This happened in 1990, when Senator Pete Wilson (R-CA) defeated her in the gubernatorial race. He then appointed the now forgotten John Seymour to replace him in the Senate, who was defeated by Feinstein two years later when he had to face the voters. California has not had a GOP Senator since then.

52, male, disgruntled Democrat, CA-28

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by: Zack from the SFV @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:12:15 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

CA

It's really sad that we can't have CA-GOV be a jumping off point for Progressives nationally.

29/D/Male/NY-01

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by: Tekzilla @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 03:33:45 AM UTC

You would actually have to fix the state

to be a national candidate.  And that is going to be quite hard.

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by: JSmith @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 12:35:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

One of the commenters on the Fix WaPo blog

that you could only imagine telling a Californian in 1984 that in 2010 Jerry Brown would be governor again, succeedin Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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by: SC @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 05:01:52 AM UTC

Ronald Reagan's the president in 1984???

Great Scott!

Top ten signs you're an SSPer #1: your favorite song is "Panic At Tedisco" and no one understands what you mean.

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by: doug_tuttle @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:09:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

This ain't over

Brown's vulnerable on his left flank and there's a whole crop of new Californians, both youngsters and immigrants who aren't attached to Brown.

Newsom was a flawed candidate just as Brown is, but his exit leaves a vacuum that someone can, and probably will fill.  I can't say who, but I suspect that someone else might well decide to take the plunge.

http://www.bluearkansasblog.com

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by: ARDem @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 06:40:41 AM UTC

If so

then they had better do it soon. Running a statewide campaign in California takes an incredible amount of money.

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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)

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by: californianintexas @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 12:24:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not arguing that point.

http://www.bluearkansasblog.com

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by: ARDem @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 17:03:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Brown

I like Jerry Brown, and think he will make a good Governor.

Why am I more sanguine about his second tenure than most others seem to be?  It's simple:  there will be no learning curve for Jerry Brown.  He already knows the ropes, and has already made the rookie mistakes all Governors do.

I am confident that Jerry Brown will be a good Governor.  

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by: Sean Fitzpatrick @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 14:25:06 PM UTC

California, at this rate, needs more than a good governor.

And remember, California on its own is the world's fifth largest economy, and thus all of us here have a stake in how it shakes out, perhaps more than any other state or race.

Brown has already come out against two things that would help with California's budget issues-ANY tax increase, and prison reform.  While that doesn't say everything about what his governorship could be, it suggests to me he's not willing to do the big things that California needs to get going again.

http://www.bluearkansasblog.com

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by: ARDem @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 17:08:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

A tax increase would not help with budget issues

That is clear as a bell.  "Fixing" California is not a matter of no money.  The economy is powerful and it has few of the issues other similar economies have.

The idiotic way fiscal decisions are made is the root problem.  "Solutions" end up being a series of single-issue trade-offs, pork, compromises, accounting magic and other foolishness that simply doesn't address the problem of living within one's means.

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by: tommypaine @ Sat Oct 31, 2009 at 23:20:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think Jerry Brown has a different idea

a bailout from the federal government.  But to do so, he will need to compromise on taxes.

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by: JSmith @ Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 02:31:22 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Meg Whitman's been awfully quiet lately...

After that dreadful (and seemingly-lengthy) period of nonstop gaffes/negative press for her, perhaps she's finally gotten her shit together?

For daily political commentary, visit me at http://polibeast.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/polibeast

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by: andyroo312 @ Sun Nov 01, 2009 at 03:59:44 AM UTC