I wrote a story set ten years from now. I had a lot of fun making predictions about what will have changed. Mr. Rilch liked it. Friend did also, with one objection.
In my future world, Willie Brown was governor of California. Friend used to live in San Francisco, and he about blew a blood vessel when he read that. I won’t go into all the things he said he’d do to WB if he even thought about running for governor, nor will I incriminate him by saying what he’d do if WB got elected. Now, I’m not saying that I want WB to be governor, but I am curious as to whether his attitude is typical enough to make my projection outlandish.
I know there’s been a lot of corruption associated with his mayorship, but a lot of mayors of large cities have been corrupt. Also, I’m not sure, but I think his reputation was mostly sound when he was state Speaker. There have been cases of people being despised by their constituency, but still getting elected to a higher office: their consituency was a small percentage of the people voting for this higher office, the larger percentage didn’t have a deep-rooted resentment, and the small percentage was unable to turn the other voters against the candidate. Of course, this doesn’t always happen, but it can.
I never lived in San Francisco. But California is a big state. Some may not agree, but I don’t think SF is our mouthpiece. Brown is perceived by San Franciscans as a prick, and he may very well be one, but pricks are often successful. Plus, I’m basing this on a projection of the effects of 9/11 on society and politics, and in 2K11, Californians may have become conservative to the point where they’d say, “Give 'em hell, Willie!” instead of “Go to hell, Willie!”
So what do y’all think? (You can reply even if you don’t live in California.)
Not very. I just have to mention the governor, but the name could be anyone’s. I’m not asking for the purpose of the story; I’m asking because Friend challenged me: “You go on that Straight Dope thing and ask if any of them would vote for Willie Brown for governor! I guarantee no one will say ‘yes’!”
I never ask people how they vote, so that’s not what this thread is about. I’m just asking for YHOs.
As a former San Franciscan of the Moscone/Feinstein/Agnos/Jordan era, I would certainly hasten to interject that during Brown’s tenure as Speaker of the Assembly his reputation was NOT “mostly sound”. The “accusations” and “appearances” of routine corruption and impropriety basically paled in comparison to any shenanigans he has participated in while Mayor. He seems to have really cleaned up his act quite a bit while Mayor. I think the aggressive press there in the City keeps him somewhat honest.
Everybody knew back then, in his Sacramento days, that he was a corrupt bag of filth, he knew it too, and reveled in it. Best of all, whenever he was accused of corruption, he would instantly play the race card (“Willie Brown, corrupt? Obviously, sir, you are a WHITE RACIST who wants to keep the BLACK MAN DOWN”). This while gleefully acting out a lifestyle of tailored clothes and Lamborghinis and white girls half his age. Apparently the actual political power associated with his positions has always been a secondary benefit for him.
Can I imagine him as Governor? Is that the question? Sure, I guess … I sure hope not, though … however, he’s certainly preferable to any candidate the other party might run, and I would happily vote for a corrupt bag of race-card-playing filth like Brown before I voted for any Republican.
While it’s certainly conceivable that he could be governor, it’s about as likely as Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming governor.
By the way, his present plans will be to return to the state Senate in 2004, attempting to replace John Burton who will be out due to term limits.
The most difficult thing for King Willie would be winning the primary. Since the Democratic bases in California are not surprisingly the large urban centers of the Bay Area and Los Angeles (See Bill Jones’ website http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/ror_021902.htm for statistics), He’s got very little support in San Francisco and not much in the Bay Area. He’s not well-known in L.A. except as mayor of another city or from his Speaker days, so he doesn’t have much to work with there.
Assuming he did win the primary, it would still be difficult to pull off the general election. I know it wouldn’t go just on party lines, but at present California has 45% Democratic and 35% Republican registered voters, so losing votes from his party wouldn’t help him much. (San Francisco’s half-million or so Democrats make up about 3% of the registered voters.)
WB gets his friends government jobs and passes legislation to help his supporters. He does both more than the rest of the politicians in the state combined. That is not the same as the criminal activity implied by the tag of corruption. And he has never been one to whine about racism directed against himself. He is simply the most successful politician in California history, and that irks his political opponents to no end. But he is highly unlikely to be elected governor anytime soon. He is already not young, and is looking to be a state Senator for up to eight years. It is possible that if he then served a long stint as attorney general successfully, then the rest of the state might forget how liberal he supposedly is (he isn’t really, he is actually moderate for SF, it’s just that he is some damned effective at what he tries to do that he is very high profile) and vote him governor, but not likely in my humble opinion.
Why is WB so effective? Well to start with, he is a hell of a lot smarter than your average politician. He likes politics, works hard at it and loves to schmooze people. He reads people really well and does what it takes to reward his friends and punish his enemies.
I certainly don’t like everything he has done, but I am very impressed with his ability to get things done, and like a great deal of what he has done.
If it’s not too late, change it to Willie Horton. If you want to get REALLY freaky in your fiction, pretend that Marion Berry was reelected in DC after his coke bust (bitch! you set me up!). Oops, carry on…