California's Next Governor

I don’t know what to make of our political situation. The race for governor is probably the scariest thing I’ve seen on a state level in a long time. Well, at least since I heard there was a push for Schwarzenegger to run for governor…
On one side, there is Jerry Brown…The last time Jerry Brown was governor of the state, I was in high school. Politics was not my game at that time and I really can’t recall much of what was happening. I do remember that Jerry Brown drove an old Ford, perhaps a Galaxy 500 and he refused to live in the governor’s mansion. At the time, it seemed really cool but now it seems gimmicky. I also remember that we had really bad economic times however I think the entire country was in a recession so you can’t really blame that on him.

As Mayor of Oakland he didn’t do much…But it was Oakland!! What a thankless and hopeless job that is…so you can’t really blame that on him. (…Starting to sound like a campaign slogan, “Jerry Brown, well you can’t really blame it on him.”)

His stint as Atty. General was not very inspiring or memorable.

I like Jerry Brown as a person, I like his passion and commitment to civil rights. I am also not sure he is assertive enough on issues surrounding education, housing and the poor. I’m not real thrilled about the recycling of the old guard.

On the other side there is Meg Whitman. A former CEO who says she can put the state back on course with a new fiscal strategy. At the same time, she spent $90,000,000.00 on her campaign so far. That’s her money, what’s she going to do with other people’s money?

She refuses to join in an open political debate, which really concerns me. She spends $1 million each month on advisors that help develop ugly negative ads about her opponents. She is anti-labor, pro-corporation and has no political experience. (It reminds me of when Schwarzenegger announced he would enter the race for governor. I had several friends who said his lack of political experience was a plus. Still think so?)

Meg Whitman undoubtedly had to deal with the politics of her Board of Directors at EBAY, but that’s it. Most others she came into contact with, she was able to instruct them on how things should and would be done. Try that in Sacramento.

What about her add stating that she would enlist the Nation Guard to secure California Borders? Is it just me or does that scare anyone else?

Do I vote for Jerry Brown because he is the lesser of two evils? What choice do I have?

It’s a dark time for California politics.