Jerry Brown, Goin' Down

Written by Jim Ellis on July 01, 2009, 12:49 PM

Conservative Republican Jim Ellis and liberal Democrat Bennet Kelley present Filibanter, a combination of political filibuster and banter. Read Kelley's perspective on the California gubernatorial race here.

Could the California Governor’s race already be slipping through Democrats’ fingers? For more than a year, everyone thought U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein would win the Democratic gubernatorial primary and easily claim the general election. But Feinstein, who turned 76 last week, hasn’t made the slightest discernable move toward launching a campaign.

Now, with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa bowing out, it appears that my Filibanter counterpart Bennet Kelley and his leftwing, left-coast cohorts will to choose between two flawed candidates. What once looked like a sure Democratic win becomes a very competitive race if either state Attorney General Brown or San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wins the D nomination.

Jerry Brown, now 70 years old, is best known as “Governor Moonbeam,” labeled as such for espousing political positions far outside the 1970s ideological mainstream. Since leaving the governorship in 1982, Brown has twice been elected mayor of Oakland and once state attorney general after failing repeatedly in his Don Quixote-like presidential quests.

Gavin Newsom was elected mayor of San Francisco in 2003 after serving two terms on the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors. He’s running despite his own torrid John Ensign-style love affair with his chief of staff’s wife, which became a public scandal over a year ago. Ideologically, he’s extreme even by California standards!

Though former eBay CEO Meg Whitman has low name ID, she is the Republican leadership’s first choice for governor. Armed with strong Silicon Valley fundraising prowess, Whitman has the clear ability to attract resources, a necessity in a place where statewide campaigns cost as much as $50 million. With Republicans desperate for a seat at the congressional redistricting table—and Brown or Newsom running for the other side—the California governor’s race soars to the top of the GOP’s priority list.


Jim Ellis is a former political adviser to the House Republican majority and currently provides election analysis for clients of the PRIsm Information Network. With Bennet Kelley he has formed Filibanter, which provides a live presentation combining political filibustering and banter.