Election Afterthoughts
A couple of follow up thoughts post election – then maybe I can put it behind me and move forward.
The well-to-do Governor Stanford
On election night I was talking to KNBC-TV political reporter Conan Nolan about rich candidates who were elected governor of California. I don’t know the history of all of California’s governors, but one that Conan immediately identified was Leland Stanford, eighth governor of California elected to a two-year term in 1861.
Stanford, of course, was a founder of Stanford University named after his son and became wealthy in the railroad business as a member of the Big Four who ran the Central Pacific Railroad.
While Stanford was a well off businessman when he won the governorship, his big dollars would come later. Some have argued he used the governorship in ways that benefited his business and increased his wealth.
Jerry Brown May Make a Surprisingly Good Governor
Granted, Jerry Brown is crazy. But in this screwball state, he might be crazy in a good way.
Who knows what Governor Brown will do? I don’t. I doubt Jerry knows either. But, oddly enough, I predict that, from a fiscal conservative viewpoint, he’ll be far better than any of us imagined.
Not great. Perhaps not even good. Just better than conservatives expect — a lot better.
I would have preferred Meg Whitman as governor. But not by much. I viewed her as Arnold in a skirt. I ended up voting for the Libertarian Dale Ogden, and felt good about it afterwards.
Jerry Brown is an iconoclast who has reached the final office of his long political career. He was put back in the governorship by the Democrats — especially the labor unions. But there is no political reason for him to pander to his supporters.
The San Francisco Giants: A Pastime Passed Down From Grandpa
Cross-posted at SacMidtown.com
That’s the splendor of sports, the ability to give oneself over to a cause that is more than you. It’s to care deeply for the unexpected – to be captivated through times of elation and anguish.
It’s to share a passion for the strangers who you root for and those strangers who you root with.
And, in the end, to have absolutely no power over the outcome.
That’s the beauty of it.
As a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, I have given myself to those moments of celebration and seemingly inevitable heartache.