Capable mavericks
Brown for AG; McClintock for lt. governor
Californians have benefited greatly from having a smart, able maverick as a governor the last three years. We think we would also benefit from having two more such mavericks – of wildly different varieties – as attorney general and lieutenant governor.
Twenty years ago, it would have been hard to imagine this editorial page endorsing Democrat Jerry Brown for statewide office. His two terms as governor, 1975-1983, were more notable for quirkiness and liberalism than substantive achievements. But if all one were to know of Brown was his record the past eight years as Oakland mayor, he would seem the model of a pragmatic, capable centrist – someone who sees economic revitalization, not government programs, as key to his city's quality of life; an advocate of charter schools and more aggressive policing; and a frequent foe of public employee unions.
By contrast, the background of his Republican opponent – state Sen. Chuck Poochigian – is uninspiring. It is one thing to be a successful attorney in Fresno private practice, or a fairly effective legislator. It is another to be a strong leader of the Attorney General's Office, which is often likened to an 1,100-member law firm.
To Brown's credit, he acknowledges there is some merit to the criticism of current Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a fellow Democrat seen by many as a fierce partisan who uses his office for political goals. Brown promises to be an independent straight-shooter and offers some impressive proof: his disavowal of Lockyer's global warming lawsuit as legally dubious.
Still, we admit it is an act of faith to believe that upon election as attorney general, Brown would be the thoughtful pragmatist seen of late and not “Gov. Moonbeam.” But he has persuaded us, which is why we endorse Jerry Brown for attorney general.
While the attorney general has a vast array of responsibilities – from overseeing criminal investigations to representing the state in litigation to providing legal counsel to local and state agencies – the lieutenant governor has little to do beyond break tie votes in the Senate and serve on the boards of the University of California and California State University. This is why both candidates, Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, a Democrat who is a generally well-regarded 32-year veteran of state politics, say they would use the job as a bully pulpit for their causes.
Oddly enough, the unusual nature of the post makes it perfectly suited to McClintock's strengths. His sharp-edged social conservatism and recent immigration grandstanding aren't our cup of tea, and his unpolitician-like contempt for the very idea of compromise on crucial issues makes him unlikely to be an effective CEO. Nevertheless, his main cause is and always has been the need for honest and prudent state budgets that put taxpayers' interests ahead of public employee unions' and don't depend on gimmicks to hide red ink.
California is one mild recession away from a $10 billion-plus annual deficit. The state also has been studiously ignoring a coming crisis in paying for the health care of public employee retirees, which the Legislative Analyst's Office estimates will cost at least $6 billion a year to address. We could go on in this vein, but our point is plain: Despite all the happy talk out of Sacramento in recent months, the long-term budget picture is best described as grim.
This is why more than ever California needs a passionate fiscal conservative in the bully pulpit. McClintock could not be more suited for the role.
