The Devil You Know
As Democrats swept all Statewide seats last night (with the exception of one still being counted as of publication time), Republicans were left stunned wondering what went wrong. While the experts’ final analysis will no doubt emerge in the coming days, I think it can be boiled down to one simple sentiment: Voters went with the devil they know.
How else can you explain why voters elected to Governor a career politician who has been in politics for 40 years? How else can you explain that voters heard repeatedly in the final days leading up to Election that the former Governor “lights out” Gray Davis was heading up a Jerry Brown transition team – yet they still cast a vote for Jerry Brown?
It’s the devil they know.
You cannot underestimate a human being’s fear of the unknown. It’s why people stay in jobs they hate. It’s why the abused woman stays with her abuser. Fear of the unknown.
Brown Led Democratic Sweep Makes Business Nervous
Congratulations to the once and future governor, Jerry Brown.
With Brown capturing the governorship, on top of the Barbara Boxer win in the US Senate, the legislature staying solidly in the hands of the Democrats and Proposition 25 passing to require a majority vote budget, the Democrats and public unions had a big night and got much of what they wanted.
With the Democrats firmly in control, Brown will now have to lead the state in a “breakthrough” of it fiscal difficulties, as the governor-elect put it. However, he faces some big obstacles in his path.
During the campaign, I heard many times that Brown would be in position to fulfill the role of Nixon going to China – in other words, Brown was the only one who could stand up to the budget pressures created by the powerful public employee unions. The big question is can he convince the unions to make changes, and how hard will he try, given their important role in his victory. The unions for their part will begin the drumbeat for more taxes in the shadow of the win on Proposition 25.
The Whitman Fiasco
Well, that was a good way to blow 140 million dollars. The Meg Whitman campaign will go down as one of the worst in California history, blowing a springtime lead and managing to lose in a massive Republican landslide year.
But that’s what you get when you hire Mike Murphy as chief strategist, as Whitman did. Last we saw of Murphy he had ruined the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2005 special election. Schwarzenegger’s defeat in that election was so thorough he had to all but become a Democrat to survive in office.
But nevertheless, there he was running Whitman’s effort. But he seems not to have understood the most basic law of modern politics: when you have an illegal alien problem, you get it out; you don’t wait for Gloria Allred to do it for you.