Posted on 10/10/2006 3:03:09 PM PDT by calcowgirl
To hear political pundits up north tell it, attorney general candidate Jerry Brown is a changed man.
Editorials and commentaries in recent months have declared ad nauseum that Brown is no longer the flaky "Governor Moonbeam" of yesteryear, but a hard-nosed, git-er-done kind of guy when it comes to crushing crime in California.
Tell that to the people of Oakland, where Brown is mayor. Folks up there must be pleased as punch with their city's crime rate, which includes the murders of 118 people, in a city of only 300,000, so far this year.
Intrigued by the notion of a former flower child turned crime fighter, I switched on my computer Thursday for a live debate between Brown and opponent Chuck Poochigian, the Republican state senator from Fresno. The debate, which reportedly will be the only meeting of the two candidates before Election Day, was sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle and broadcast live on the Internet.
It was a lively and illuminating exchange.
Is Brown a changed man? Hardly. If anything, the debate showed that Brown is as idealistic as ever, taking Poochigian to task over nonissues and likely leaving some voters wondering what the attorney general job is really all about.
Early on in the debate Brown dramatically pulled a menacing-looking .50-caliber round from his pocket as proof that Poochigian -- who did not support last year's Schwarzenegger-approved law banning .50-caliber rifles -- is soft on crime.
The unflappable Poochigian held up the cap to his pen. "But this," he retorted," "is the (size of the) bullet that's killing people up in Oakland -- just a few feet from your home."
It's true that Poochigian, whom I've characterized before in this column as one of the steadiest ships in California's turbulent political seas, is a few steps to the right of Arnold. Good for him. He also has a talent for writing butt-kicking crime bills and getting colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support them. Some of that legislation has significantly strengthened criminal penalties for sex offenders and gang-related crimes, as well as for identity theft, a racket Poochigian calls "the fastest-growing class of crime in the nation."
That distinguished record appeared lost on Brown, who seemed to spend most of his allotted debate minutes talking about his true loves -- abortion rights and the environment. Safeguarding the state's environmental resources and the civil rights of its citizens is important. No argument there. But the Division of Public Rights, under which such issues fall, is only one of 10 divisions overseen by the attorney general, the remaining nine having to do with -- you guessed it -- law enforcement. One can only hope, if elected, Brown has time for those too.
When it comes to picking the state's next top cop we can wade through the rhetoric or rely on the resume -- not on promises, but on past performance. For Brown, that means a history he can't escape and one that voters would be foolish to ignore.
His disdain for public opinion, evident in his 1977 veto of the death penalty, the recall of Rose Bird, his state Supreme Court appointee, after she blocked some 60 executions, and his opposition to the state Victim's Bill of Rights were extreme by any measure.
Sure people can change, but Brown is a big gamble, the longest of long shots. Don't bet on it.
Ol' lord-of-the-medflies Jerry Brown would be a HORRIBLE atty. general. Poochigian, who sponsored the workers' compensation reform act, is definitely the right choice.
I haven't seen any ads for Attorney General yet - have you? I figure all the Repubs have to do is show Rose Bird's picture all over the TV to remind us how Jerry is against the death penalty (most Calis are FOR it) and how this monstrosity of the bench (Bird) never met a Death Row inmate she didn't like.
Also - is it my imagination, or is Angelides conceding the election before it's even held? I'm seeing NO campaigns ads in NorCal.
Anyone who thinks Brown is anything but an idiot is an idiot.
I think chances are probably pretty good he'll win in idiotsville, I mean California.
There are some pretty good radio ads for Poochigian running in San Diego. They really nail Brown as being soft on crime.
It will be far more credit than he is due.
Damn that was good.
I can't say enough what a decent guy and consummate gentleman Chuck Poochigian is.
They're all over the place up here, though maybe they are just targeting guys like me. I hear the radio ads wall-to-wall on KFBK and KSTE, and Fox News is plastered with them on Sacramento Comcast. Both Pooch's "slam-Brown" ads and the big labor "We love Brown" police union ads.
Maybe if the car windows are rolled down.
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