From the Guardian: Jerry Brown triumphs over Meg Whitman’s millions
Governor Moonbeam is back. In one of the most remarkable stories of political resurrection in recent American history, Jerry Brown has won back the governorship of California, regaining a post he first won in the 1970s.
Brown, who earned his nickname during his first turn as governor after advocating hi-tech ideas that are now commonplace, defeated the high-spending Republican candidate Meg Whitman.
From the AP: Brown has deep ties to the California he will lead.
Jerry Brown was just 5 years old when he got his first taste of California politics, watching his father sworn in as the district attorney for San Francisco.
The father would go on to become the state’s attorney general and a popular two-term governor, while the son would follow his path — even as he took multiple side trips along the way from a Jesuit seminary to a Buddhist monastery in Japan.
At 72, Brown is completing a political journey unparalleled in California politics, after voters on Tuesday swept him back into the office over Republican challenger Meg Whitman. He was California’s 34th governor from 1975-83 and its 39th today.
From TPM: The Moonbeam Shines Once More
….During Brown’s previous tenure as governor, he gained a somewhat false reputation as a left-wing Democrat, owing to his counter-cultural sensibilities. In fact, he was in many ways a fiscal conservative, and had tense relations with public employee unions….
But he was not done yet. He ran again for President in 1992, winning several Democratic primaries as an alternative candidate to Bill Clinton. In 1999 he was elected Mayor of Oakland, was re-elected in 2003, and in 2006 was elected state Attorney General. Now he becomes governor of California again, 28 years after he originally left the office.
When he first took office in January of 1975, Jerry was California’s youngest governor since the 1850s; in January, EGB Jr. will be the oldest Californian to be sworn in to that same job.
AND SNIPS FROM JERRY’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH:
“Will this help the next generation, that’s gonna be my watchword…”
“…This time we’re going to have a first lady, that’s going to be the real difference.”
“I take as my challenge of forging a common purpose, based not just on compromise, but of what California can be….”
“While I’m really into this politics thing, I still carry with me that missionary zeal to transform the world. I’m hoping and praying that this breakdown that we’ve been witnessing…paves the way for a breakthrough..”
WHITMAN’S CONCESSION: “Tomorrow we are all Californians.”
Gracious.
AND IN ANOTHER LOW MOMENT FOR CABLE NEWS…
I noticed that Brown’s I-think-I-may-have-actually-won-this-thing speech sent the room full of on-air CNN commenters into a gleeful bout of smirking and eye-rolling, Anderson Cooper included.
So, CNN dudes, let me get this straight: After a night like this one, it’s Jerry Brown talking with rather sweet and unfiltered candidness about his hopes for California, and his affection for his wife, that sends y’all into paroxysms of cynicism? Really?
Amazing. (And not in a good way.)
HERE’S WHAT JOSH MARSHALL said of the same speech:
Jerry Brown was sort of my formative political experience or perhaps my first. He was in office when I was in elementary school in California. He just gave his acceptance speech. I didn’t see it but I heard it. It was classic Jerry Brown. Seemed like something I could have heard him say 30+ years ago. Not the kind of speech you’d ever expect to hear from almost any politician in the country. He was a bit punchy, extemporaneous. Ranging in various ways from one topic to another. Here’s the one quote I wrote down: I still have that “missionary zeal to transform the world.” Who else would say that? I don’t think I heard any of his speeches during the campaign. But I get the sense he let a bit of Gov. Moonbeam out post-victory. In his post-gubernatorial career he’s frequently driven me nuts. But I kind of love the guy.
Well, yeah.
AND ELSEWHERE…
Not much to add that you’re not seeing endlessly on the cable networks except to say:
THANK YOU, NEVADA, for recovering your sanity.
KENTUCKY, thanks for nothing.
As usual you’re out to lunch on this Celeste. Though California voters have screwed themselves with many of their choices, much of the rest of the nation took a step forward.
Brown sounds like a mental patient and your assertion from a few weeks ago that he is one of our “brightest” hasn’t been shown at any tim in this campaign marked by the usual dirty politics to get him to a job that I’m convinced he really doesn’t care about.
I really hope I’m wrong and he shows he’s grown and will stand up to the other spend and tax lunatics supported by the liberal majority in this state, but I won’t be surprised if he bends over to what his poltical friends want.
Brown’s acceptance speech was the brightest spot of the night.
Agreed, clf.
Enjoy what happened in CA, because we got slaughtered in this election nationwide.
Per the LA Times
So far, here’s the scorecard:
Senate:
Dem 51
GOP 46 net gain of 6 for them..so far…3 not yet called
House:
Dem 183
GOP 238 net gain of 59 for them so far..14 not yet called.
Our incumbents got murdered throughout the nation.
Not to mention the Governors. CA remained our stronghold, but throughout the rest of the nation a very strong anti-incumbent and anti-Obama message was sent.
Here’s the real bummer. We can’t even fire up a spliff and celebrate. Well, not legally anyway. lol
Not to mention the Governors. CA remained our stronghold, but throughout the rest of the nation a very strong anti-incumbent and anti-Obama message was sent.
Apparently you’ve never heard of New York . . .
No great love for Harry Reid, but at least us Nevadians escaped Senator Bat Shit.
Sorry Randy. We had a pretty good third inning in the ballgame also when NY came to bat. And we had a good at bat with MASS. in the fourth inning.
The rest of the ballgame we got killed.
Yes, quite thankful to Nevada for snapping out of their psychotic break.
BTW Randy, we lost two seats that were held by our incumbents in NY. The GOP didn’t lose any of the few seats they had. NY was a net gain of two seats for the GOP.
So even though NY is stronghold for us, we’re worse off in NY than we were Monday. As is the case throughout the nation.
For that matter, CA had a net gain of six seats for the GOP. So in reality, it was worse in CA than in NY.
CA is worse off than it was Monday.
You and Celeste are like parents in the stands at a Little League ballgame. As the team gets slaughtered slaughtered, you want to rejoice about how your kid had a good game.
I look at the whole picture, how the TEAM did. It was NOT good. Our team needs to seriously rethink it’s strategy. President Obama is recognizing the “butt whuppin” we got yesterday.
Randy, what happens nationwide does have an affect on us in CA and those in NY whether you realize it or not.
Go to the LA Times and look at the nationwide results for the House, your sense of jubilation might be dampened.
Sorry to be your buzz kill, but it’s reality.
ATQ, you’re a bit too gleeful. Also, do you honestly think the rest of us weren’t watching the returns last night.
Gleeful Celeste? Hardly. Why in the hell would I be gleeful?
You and Celeste are like parents in the stands at a Little League ballgame. As the team gets slaughtered slaughtered, you want to rejoice about how your kid had a good game.
All statewide offices in New York were won by Democrats as is the case with California. Much of upstate New York is conservative as is the California Central Valley.
Don’t read too much into things.
As usual you’re out to lunch on this Celeste.
Way to keep it classy.
Okay, good. Just checking. Some of us are feeling a bit touchy this morning.
We should be touchy. We should acknowledge what happened yesterday and realize that our brand isn’t selling well throughout mid-America.
Maybe it’s time we drop the “anybody who doesn’t agree with us is insane” attitude.
That’s not working for us anymore outside of CA, NY and MA.
If we continue on the path we’re on, 2012 will be worse than yesterday.
Don’t read too much into things.
Okay. I’ll just be happy as hell. I’ll be happy that we scored a couple touchdowns. I’ll ignore the fact that we got our ass kicked by a large margin.
All I’m saying is that some races are very regional, even within states.
“Maybe it’s time we drop the “anybody who doesn’t agree with us is insane” attitude.”
How can you say that when that’s the exact attitude Republicans just won with?
I hear ya.
All I’m saying is..Yes Randy, we had a few players who played well.
In the big picture, on the scoreboard, THE GOP KICKED OUR ASS IN A WAY THAT HASN’T BEEN DONE IN OUR LIFETIME!!!!
If I’m going to comment on the game, I can’t ignore the scoreboard. I also recognize the ramifications that it’s going to have on ALL of us…even those in CA/NY/MA.
There is a reason President Obama’s news conference’s have the tone they have today. He recognizes it too.
I wasn’t meaning to be disrespectful to you or Celeste when I said you’re like the Little Leaguers parents who are overjoyed because their kid played well. You’re right, your kid did play well. I’m happy that you can be happy.
But I look at it from a fan of the team point of view.
As a fan of the team, I’m very dissapointed. We need to address our weaknesses, our strategy, and our tactics.
In short, OUR GAME PLAN SUCKED!!!!
If I wanted to gloat over anything (which I don’t) it would be about being right when I told Rob and Reg that they were making a HUGE mistake when they said people we’re repudiating the GOP because “they’ve got nothing”.
I warned them about being overconfident and not taking into account the polls. I told them a lot of Democrats needed to quit the ultra partisanship within our party or this would happen.
Reg called me crazy, and Rob called me a Repubic.
I take no pleasure in being right. But I will say this, next time Reg wants to go off on a rant and tell me how my line of thinking is all fucked up, keep yesterday in mind.
Rob isn’t a factor because Celeste finally got tired of hi bullshit and banned his ass.
Those who are emotionally driven LOVE to kill the messenger of bad news. They see things for what they want them to be and can’t stand to hear anything that might kill their buzz.
That’s Rob and Reg. Pure emotion.
Those who deal with things from an intellectual mindset see things for what they are and go where the evidence leads them. All the evidence told us this was going to happen.
Hell, it isn’t like I’m smart for being able to read the writing on the wall a few months ago. The writing was there for anybody who didn’t put blinders on and say “You’re crazy” to anybody that acknowleged what it told us.
Turns out those two now look like the village idiots of WLA.
My bringing this up isn’t to gloat about being right, it’s to try and help us learn. Rob and Reg are a perfect example of who not to listen to or emulate. They are what’s wrong with our party.
Avoid personal attacks please. It’s a hard habit to break. But please break it. Now. Thanks.
“a lot of Democrats needed to quit the ultra partisanship within our party.”
The ultra partisanship worked fine for Republicans. They won yesterday with nothing other than ultra partisanship. The Republican party has exemplified nothing but ultra partisanship since 1994, whether they’re in the majority or the minority. Nothing but ultra partisanship, since Gingrich. So, ultra partisanship evidently works.
How can you say that when that’s the exact attitude Republicans just won with?
************************************************
Lee, with all due respect, the labeling of Rep. candidates as insane/crazy/wacko etc. is a tactic that we have come to love in our party. We have come to over rely on it, because it’s easy and it’s cheap.
Let me give you an example.
Have the people across America lost their minds in the last two years? Did the same people who elected President Obama in 2008 vote for a bunch of insane candidates yesterday?
Did the same people who voted to give us the House and the Senate in 2006, and then the Presidency in 2008 all of a sudden get so stupid they voted for an insane person yesterday?
Think long and hard before you answer this. If you are suggesting that’s the case, it’s quite an indictment of the American people we had so much faith in two years ago.
No Lee, they didn’t get stupid in two years.
The truth of the matter is that there are no candidates on either side of the aisle that are certifiably, diagnostically “insane”.
There can be no right-wing extremists if there no left-wing extremists. That’s a scientific fact. Our party has governed from a left-wing extremist for two years now. The majority of the SAME PEOPLE who voted for President Obama don’t want his healthcare reform. The majority of the SAME PEOPLE who voted for him don’t want Cap n Trade.
Shit, Joe Manchin in WV ran an add where he was in hunting clothes and took a rifle and shot a hole thru the C/T bill. He got elected after being behind in the polls thru the week before the election.
His Rep. opponent didn’t come out and call him a crazy nut job for carrying a rifle and shooting the C/T bill in his add.
Now honestly, haven’t we heard ad infinitem about “crazy right wingers with guns” right here on this blog?
How do you think Joe Manchin would be percieved if he had an “R” next to his name and not a “D”?
Rhetorical question. We both know the answer.
Are the people in WV insane for electing him? If a Rep. had run that add you can bet they would be called insane by a whole lot of people in our party. We can’t wait to take that easy way out to try and gain an advantage.
People can have differing views and different values. That doesn’t make them insane. Because I may vehemently disagree with someone on an issue, that doesn’t make them diagnostically insane.
Those in our party can govern from a more MODERATE perspective, or they can get voted out.
This country is now, and has always been “right of center”. What happened yesterday was a result of some in our party failing to remember that.
I’m like Wade Phillips. I’m embarrassed the way my team is playing the game.
It’s those in my own party that can’t wait to attack me because I’m an endangered species, a conservative Democrat.
They keep pushing and pushing. I’m at the edge of the tent now. Is there no room in the tent for a conservative Democrat? No room anymore for a Blue Dog?
I’ll put it this way. You don’t see Sure Fire attacking me and telling me I’m crazy.
Enough said.
Answering The Question Says:
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Our party has governed from a left-wing extremist for two years now.
………….
What bills pushed by Democrats in the past 2 years would you consider to be extreme left wing ideas?
Obamacare and Cap N Trade.
How is a public option for government health care an “extreme left” idea?
Just what is your definition of “extreme left”? Anything remotely left of center?
I don’t expect much but weak remarks from the poster boy for Amnesty International. With all the trash I’ve seen Reg post here or on Cooper, sometimes quickly followed by remarks of yours, not once have I seen you question his filth. I say “out to lunch” and you question the class of it?
Your own posts show you are a fraud and have no standing on the issue as your standards apply only to those you disagree with.
7.Randy Paul Says:
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:20 am
Not to mention the Governors. CA remained our stronghold, but throughout the rest of the nation a very strong anti-incumbent and anti-Obama message was sent.
Apparently you’ve never heard of New York . . .
…and apparently you think two states carry more weight than they do, keep dreaming. 2012 can’t get here quick enough.
Okay, both of you. Stop with the personal remarks. Thank you.
Come on Celeste, he worked for Amnesty International, how can that be personal? I think you need a thread where people can just trash talk each other whenever they want…just one. I have lots of things I’d like to say to Randy and Reg, with no rules in place.
Please….
Sure Fire, I have a better idea. You should start a blog where people can insult each other as much as they want. Go ahead. We’ll meet you there. No, seriously, go ahead. We’re right behind you. That’s it, keep going, there you go….
How is a public option for government health care an “extreme left” idea?
Because what starts out as a public “option” would soon turn into a single-payer system. The private insurance companies eventually could not compete with the goverment sponsored system. That’s why the majority of businesses are saying that they would just pay the fine for dropping the private insurance programs they provide, because it’s cheaper to pay the fine.
Now, when they’ve all dropped the private companies, there is ONE option left (which isn’t an option at all)…it’s the goverment, and the GOVERNMENT ONLY program that will exist.
Having to rely on the goverment, and not having a choice to buy it from the private sector, because the goverment uses the laws enacted to force out the private sector is extreme left-wing ideology.
Think about it, who would pay the premiums for their employees when it’s cheaper to pay the fine?
Those chickenshit corporations are only in business to make money right? They don’t care about what’s best for their employees, remember?
FREE shit sounds good. Whether it’s healthcare or cheese.
One problem. IT ISN’T FREE. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Somebody’s growing the wheat for the bread, raising the beef for the meat, milking the cow for the cheese, growing the plants for mustard, etc.
Those people either get payed for their labor, (oh shit, there we go with the “it aint free” part) or the goverment FORCES them to grow their crop and relenquish it for “the good of the people”.
Sound familiar? Sound like any other countries you can think of right off hand?
In our case I think it would be payed for with astronomically high tax rate. Doctors gotta get paid well or our healthcare system won’t be worth shit. Nurses etc. gotta be paid well or the level of care we get won’t be worth shit.
It all sounds good. Until you think it thru to it’s end.
“Because what starts out as a public “option” would soon turn into a single-payer system. The private insurance companies eventually could not compete with the goverment sponsored system.”
Who’s fault is that? If the government is ran as poorly as conservatives say it is, surely Americans would flock to private doctors to get trustworthy health care. If most Americans chose a government doctor, it would only mean that the government can run health care sufficiently enough to where a private sector wouldn’t be needed. I don’t think putting pressure on private health care providers to run a more honest system is an “extreme left” idea. I think it creates healthy competition…pardon the pun. What an opportunity for the private sector to prove they can handle health care better than the government.
Ha ha ha, like I said same old Rob.
Rob called me a Repubic.
Does that involve shaving :-)? [Sure Fire, this is a joke, not an insult].
I say “out to lunch” and you question the class of it?
FWIW, I was defending the owner of the site. I don’t go to someone’s house and insult them, which is why Lee Plenty’s suggestion wouldn’t work for me.
As for me not defending you against reg, I assume you’re capable of defending yourself.
My mentioning New York was in response to ATQ’s seeming to indicate that California was unique this year.
Mentioning AI is not an insult to me. There are few moments more moving in my life than having dinner with a former prisoner of conscience from the former East Germany whose case I worked on or meeting Arn Chorn who managed to survive the killing fields of Cambodia and has dedicated himself to preserving Khmer music or feeling my own sense of humbleness when I’m thanked for my little bit of work by someone far wiser, who’s suffered far more than I could imagine or probably endure, has survived and is dedicating the rest of his life to making sure no one has to endure what he had to endure.
I’m proud and humbled by my once significant volunteer work for Amnesty International and would gladly dedicate myself to doing it again.
ATQ,
Half of the losses of Democratic congressional representatives yesterday were bule dogs.
Exactly my point, Randy. I find it hilarious that Evan Bayh of all people is going to tell Democrats how to win elections, after losing himself. Here’s a senator who basically backed down to Republicans and gave them whatever they wanted for as long as he served, then was shown the door regardless. If anything, his loss, and the losses that other so called “blue dog” democrats suffered, should teach Democrats that you don’t get any points for backing down to Republicans. We need more Ted Kennedys and less Evan Bayhs.
I am capable of defending myself Randy, and all I pointed out was you’re not capable of putting that feigned attitude of displeasure you have with people like me with what I post here to those you’re ok with. It’s all about standards, you either apply them to all or you sound, imho, shallow.
Oh, and what are “bule dogs”? Just joking.
The day I really have to concern myself with that you think of me will be a day when I might as well just stck my head in the oven and turn on the gas.
I love it when you can’t respond with any facts to back you up when the truth smacks you in the eye… priceless.
I don’t care. I really don’t. You’re as welcome to your opinion as I am to mine.
“With all the trash I’ve seen Reg post here or on Cooper”
Cooper? You mean Marc Cooper’s site? I’ve never seen “Surefire/Nikki” on Cooper’s site, so you must be using a pseudonym if you post there.
I just started looking at it in the past few weeks, I haven’t posted there. All I’ve done is read some threads. Cooper is a smart guy, no doubt about it and I enjoy his writing. When I post it will be under this name, without the Nikki.