If I recall correctly, the character was based on Governor Moonbeam.
Yes I think that it was, but this was before Brown had been elected to any office, He was elected governor in 1975
No, John Tunney, another California politician. Members of the production team had worked for Tunney and the writer had written for Eugene McCarthy. They weren’t trying to be hard on Tunney or other Democrats, though. Tunney in 1970 was what Biden was in 1972: a candidate whose only advantage and only platform was his youth. Both won.