Jerry Brown was a subject for famed photographer Richard Avedon in '76
Posted on 03/03/2010 11:44:34 AM PST by SmithL
Democrat Jerry Brown, at 71 years old, is offering himself to California voters as the pragmatic, moderate and mature gubernatorial candidate with the experience to bring the state back from the brink of disaster.
But with four decades in public service and a reputation as a political chameleon, the attorney general must try to shake the one word that critics have aimed at him for the past 35 years: "Moonbeam."
Moments after Brown, who was governor from 1975 to 1983, delivered a three-minute video Tuesday announcing his candidacy, his GOP opponents began reviving memories of the nickname as shorthand for Brown's perceived failings: too liberal, too unorthodox, too unpredictable - just too out there.
But some political observers called Brown's campaign launch yet another brilliant effort to repackage the Brown legacy.
"If I were a headline writer at the New York Post, I'd probably have written it: "Moonbeam goes mainstream," quipped Bob Gardner, a political advertising veteran who heads the Advocacy Group, a crisis communications and advertising firm in San Francisco.
Peering straight into the camera during his campaign video, Brown delivered the messages of a practical realist, a centrist and even a libertarian - arguing for no new taxes, smaller government, more local control, an end to "poisonous partisanship" and budget-balancing gimmicks, along with some painful straight talk about California's dire financial situation.
Brown was given the Moonbeam label in the late 1970s not just for his idea for a state-owned communications satellite but because he broke the political mold. He opted to live in a one-bedroom apartment instead of the governor's mansion, turned down the state-paid limo to drive his own Plymouth, and was so austere that other California politicians loved to recount stories about his thriftiness.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Lord of the Fruit Flies!
He’s worse than moonbeam.....the guy is a complete idiot and on the take all the time.
shed it? He should copyright it. think of the branding possibilities...
Does he want to shed his MOONBEAM label? This ‘branding’ may be good for him, especially in liberal Northern California.
Wasn’t he like the Mayor of the Planet Venus the last 10 years or so?
Nope.
Once a Moonbeam, always a Moonbeam.
71 year old moonbeam! How will Californians KNOW when senile dementia sets in with this guy?
He would be the last piece of complete breakdown in California. I remember ‘moonbeam’ very well.... never forgot. You think it’s bad now...
Brilliant! Hopefully Californians will remember his days as Governor Moonbeam, and understand that he is illegally acting as the California Attorney General.
On another site (pacoenterprise.blogspot.com) there was a contest of sorts to come up with a name for the Lefties like they use for the Tea Party folks. You might have a viable entry. See Java Jive to post this.
“I am governor Jerry Brown, my aura smiles and never frowns...” - California Uber Alles < Dead Kennedys >
The moniker “Gov. Moonbeam” is not going to hurt Brown with Liberals anyway.
No.
Wasn't this guy involved in a child molesting case in the Tahoe in the 60/70 “s ?
Yes, he did not meet the criteria to be AG !
I’ve heard that he’s lost his mind; his wife runs the department or so rumors say.
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