Saturday, November 14, 2009

CA Governor in 2010


In a previous post, I laid down some criteria that I thought Greens should be using to choose a candidate for POTUS in 2012. I got some good feedback on that. Today, I belatedly tackle the same problem for a Green candidate for Governor of California in 2010.

Click Read more! for my rant and recommendation.


I think that we have to put forward a candidate who is clearly adept at talking on financial matters. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the legislative analyst's office will issue a report on the 2010 budget and media reports say that the deficit could be pegged at $25 Billion rather than the $12 Billion that Schwarzenegger has been citing.

We already know what the most likely mainstream candidate will be running on. Meg Whitman is all over the airways and the internet talking creating jobs, cutting spending and fixing education. That, more or less, will define the Republican pitch. It is even put forward as a platform.

Well, Greens already have a platform, we just need to start using it. It clearly outlines that direction we would like to see society move. It does not, however, give a very good view of how you take the current government of California and apply sound fiscal policies to create the a sustainable future for this state and all who live here, not just for the ultra-wealthy like Madame Meg.

This is not an aside. It underscores the need for a candidate who does more than mouth progressive platitudes, someone who could take a Ross Perot chart and make the rest of us understand it, understand where they want to take us. We had this for a while when Peter Camejo was mixing it up in the debates associated with the recall of Gray Davis. I have not heard that since.

While there are many inspirational people associated with the peace movement, or other social justice efforts, that is not who we need leading this part in this state at this critical time.

There are a number of other Green Issues on which we need to give our candidate all the help they can use. I know that we are in the middle of the next battle in the water wars. There are Greens ready and willing to help define a Green Party water policy and how we should react with a highly controversial water bond to be on the 2010 ballot, the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010.

There is an opportunity, in the 2010 election, to redefine the social contract between Government and the citizens of California. The current one has been fractured like Humpty Dumpty. We have forgotten the duty we owe each other. This election is an opportunity not to be wasted.

Meg Whitman is trying to do just that, offering a Contract with American style vision of a return to California's Golden Years. (Typical of a Republican to want to return to something that never was. We should allow Meg to enjoy her golden years.) The Democrats think that they own the social contract, but for them is only a way to slice and dice the populace, playing to every interest group and, in the end, disappointing them all.

I am concerned about having a candidate who is articulate across a broad range of issues, but they have to be able to explain what they will do about California's budget mess.

So far, of all the names that I have heard tossed around for Governor, only Laura Wells has demonstrated the chops to play this gig.

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