If there's anything on which Jerry Brown and his critics can probably agree it's that he's one of a kind.
A serial born-again politician who's professed deep new insights with every campaign, he claims again to be a different kind of candidate as he runs for attorney general. Although it's always the same Brown, he's still the most interesting political act in town.
Take his appearance last month before a friendly audience of Democrats at Boalt Hall, the Berkeley law school. After seven years as Oakland's mayor, he said, he's learned about the practical realities of governing.
Being mayor is "hands-on"; the governor's job, which he held from 1974 to 1982, imposed "more abstract" responsibilities. He signed 9,000 laws in Sacramento, many of which he now regretted.
There are too many "thou shalts" and too many "thou shalt nots." As mayor "you have to work out stuff practically." He still opposes the death penalty, he said, but as attorney general, "the people's lawyer," he'll conscientiously enforce it. He said he knows that his opponents will try to make an issue of it, but as a resident of downtown Oakland who walks the streets, he understood the crime issue firsthand. He was not living in a gated community.
The main themes of the campaign are thoroughly Brown: defending abortion rights; resisting federal attempts to pre-empt state environmental and consumer protection laws; advocating for the rights of the poor and powerless; working with local cops to reduce crime.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/14239114p-15059305c.html
