Jerry Brown has some advice. Democrats should listen.
By Max Boot
Columnist
April 10 at 1:54 PM
SAN FRANCISCO — A onetime seminarian, Jerry Brown has always had a New Age, unworldly reputation. Columnist Mike Royko labeled him “Governor Moonbeam” in the 1970s, and the nickname stuck, much to Royko’s subsequent regret.
It is high time to recognize this 81-year-old Democrat as one of the most successful politicians — and governors — in U.S. history. He was first elected to statewide office (as California’s secretary of state) 12 years before Pete Buttigieg was born. He served two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983, then retreated into the political wilderness, only to reemerge as chairman of the California Democratic Party (1989-1991), mayor of Oakland (1999-2007), attorney general of California (2007-2011), and then once again governor (2011-2019) of a state with a gross domestic product bigger than India’s.
In his most recent stint in Sacramento, Brown inherited a $26 billion budget deficit and left a $14 billion surplus. To some extent, he got lucky, as he will be the first to acknowledge. His time as governor coincided with one of the greatest periods of wealth creation in U.S. history, much of it centered in Silicon Valley. But he made his own luck, too, by cutting spending and raising taxes — something few politicians dare to do. He even vetoed a budget passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature.
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