Good stuff. I have to admit, I’ve been incredibly impressed with Brown’s latest stint as an elected official. We talk about youth and how the Presidency is not an old man’s job, and yet Brown has been one of those guys who has improved and gotten smarter and wiser with age. He shows no signs of mental decline and if anything has continued to grow. Besides, if there’s one job that’s almost as stressful as the Presidency, it’s governor of the largest and one of the most dysfunctional states in the union. If there’s any job that prepares one for the Presidency, it’s being a successful governor of California.
Speaking of success, it’s hard to deny it. California has defeated most of its governors. Not Jerry. Brown has maintained a solid approval ratings where most California governors in recent years struggled to stay above 40%. He’s done more to solve CAlifornia’s perennial budget problems than any governor since the 19th century.
What’s more, despite his many years in politics, he has outsider cred. He’s always been his own man, always a maverick, with a reputation for honesty and straight talk. It would be hard to imagine a candidate more likely to win the 7% of voters who voted for Obama and Trump.
I love Jerry Brown. He has shown he can be excellent administrator both as mayor and as governor. His three previous runs to be POTUS shouldn’t be any reason to disqualify him. The fact he will be 84 in 2020? Well…
Aye; me too. He’s a good man, and smart. He’s suffered slings and arrows (and stupid derogatory nicknames) and he did so with grace and eventually came back out on top. Like, undeniably on top.
Even at 84 I’d vote for him.
ETA: Give me a Brown/Booker ticket and I’ll give you the White House!
I’m a fan and would happily vote for him, despite how many times he annoys me with policies I disagree with, which has been reasonably often - from his park service cuts, to the delta water project he endorses, to his boondoggle of a bullet train. But I respect his vision, his independence( he’s the big dog and shoves around and ignores his own party with impunity, despite their super-majority )and his undeniable competence. He’s been a surprisingly effective governor this time around and he was a pretty decent mayor before that.
But like I’ve said before I’ve met the man in passing and IMHO he has the media charisma of a particularly rounded rock. At times he can be sanely articulate, but at others he just comes off like a robot. And that ‘Governor Moonbeam’ thing is an albatross around his neck at a national level. However much he has outgrown that persona it will cling to him in national narratives like a skunk’s odor. Also, y’know - age.
I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but I just don’t think he is viable outside of CA.
He has the stature to be a Presidential candidate but he is way too old. He may be in good health but at that age there is no saying when a serious problem may pop up suddenly. Also, I don’t see him as someone with the broad appeal and charisma of a Bill Clinton or Obama ; he seems to be much more of a blue state figure.
age- Obviously important, but health care is good these days and it’s not as if dementia is universal. He could make a “one term” pledge, or just make sure to pick an ultra qualified but significantly younger running mate. Deval Patrick, Cory Booker, either Virginia Senator…
Charisma- most candidates aren’t charismatic. There’s no point in worrying about it, because if you’ve got a candidate in the primary who has it, that candidate is going to win. But if Brown is one boring dude among other boring dudes and ladies, he might be the most capable and qualified of the group. Chances are, there will be no Clintons or Obamas in the Democratic field in 2020. I’d rate many of their prospects as “promising” but so far none have shown much more than Marco Rubio has at this point in his career.
Brown has done a remarkable job of rebuilding the bridges he burned when he ran as a Bernie Sanders scorched earth candidate in 1992 against Bill Clinton. However, if the Dems are looking for an elder statesman to be a one term president, then Biden has that angle locked up. I’d be fine with Brown as a cabinet secretary.
True, if Biden runs that’s Brown’s main “lane”, just as if Sanders runs there’s no point in Liz Warren getting into the race.
But if the primary options are a callow establishment pick who might not be ready for prime time, like Booker, and Bernie Sanders, then that gives Brown a good opening.
But according to the article he’s not running. He should though.
Nah, they’ll probably just nominate Kamala Harris and watch her flame out spectacularly and assume it’s because we’re racist and sexist and anti-intellectual.
I don’t think by any objective measure you could say he’s doing a bad job as governor. He’s smart, articulate, and largely in agreement with what I believe. But- he’s too freaking old. If he was nominated and died right before the election it might result in Shitgibbon- The Second Term and this is a chance we just can’t take.
