For almost half a century, Jerry Brown has been a prominent, and often dominating, presence on the California political scene. We shouldn’t expect him to coast through his final year as Governor. The climate change battle with Donald Trump has energized the Governor and thrust him out front as one of America’s global leaders on the issue—a role he relishes. Expect the Governor to continue in his role as President of Climate Change in 2018 and beyond.
In California, the Democratic Governor will likely continue to govern as skinflint-in-chief, holding the line against many of the Democrat-controlled Legislature’s more ambitious spending plans. No shrinking violet, Governor Brown will undoubtedly cast a long shadow over this year’s race to succeed him.
Jerry Brown has never been seen as comfortable out of public office. Does he have another race in him? If, as his term concludes, no Democratic Presidential standard bearer has emerged, it is hard to imagine that he won’t, health permitting, think about another run for the White House. After all, eighty is the new sixty and Jerry has the political resume to be the natural Democratic challenger against Donald Trump.