Steve Julian
April 27, 2009
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Democratic leaders met over the weekend in Sacramento for their annual convention. One of the orders of business was to vote on whether to endorse the six budget-related propositions on the May 19 ballot. KPCC Morning Edition host Steve Julian spoke to San Francisco Chronicle senior political reporter Carla Marinucci about whether there was a lot of tension over the measures.
Carla Marinucci: Yeah, there was a lot of tension. Democrats were very, very conflict, and, I mean, they basically ignored the pleas of their party leaders when they refused to endorse Proposition 1A. That is sort of the signature measure on the May 19th ballot.
A lot of them opposed the spending cap. They said it would hurt spending in education and other social areas that they, many of them supported, but I tell you, Democrat leadership was for that measure.
So was both Mayor Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown, two of the likely gubernatorial candidates. The California Teachers Association was for it. So, 58 percent of the delegates supported it. It wasn't enough to get it endorsed, so officially, the Democratic Party is neutral on Proposition 1A, and that is a blow for that campaign, no doubt about it.
Steve Julian: Now two of the people running for governor, Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, and Jerry Brown, who's the state attorney general, were both at the convention. What did they have to say about the party and about each other?
Marinucci: They both kind of framed the election. We saw a preview of what the next gubernatorial contest would be like. Of course, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa decided to stay home, he said to work on the budget. He's considered likely too. So that put it down to two guys, and what we saw was the beginning of at least a generational contest between these two.
Mayor Newsom came out swinging, talking about how Californians face a contrast between a stroll down memory lane, that was his clear shot at Jerry Brown, and a sprint into the future. He was trying to talk about past versus future, Obama versus Hillary kind of mode.
Jerry Brown got up there and basically said change is an easy slogan to talk about, you gotta be able to deliver. And that was
his message to the Democrats.
These two were going at it. It was lively, and they even did it within regard to the parties they held, so there was, a year before there's even a primary going on, we're seeing the beginnings of what could be a very tough Democratic contest for governor.
Julian: Yeah. Gavin Newsom's in his early 40s, and Jerry Brown in his early 70s.
Marinucci: That's right. There's a 30 year difference between these two, and that is the largest difference we've ever seen in such a race.
Julian: Now, the Democrats have a new leader. Who's that?
Marinucci: John Burton is the new leader. It's kind of back to the future. John Burton was the Democratic Party chair 35 years ago. He's 76, so when we talk about change you can believe in–
Julian: So maybe there's hope for Jerry Brown after all.
Marinucci: (laughs) That's right! He is a former state senator, a very powerful Democratic leader. A lot of Democrats turned to him this time, with fundraising, with battles against the Republicans coming, with elections coming up, with Senator Barbara Boxer facing a potential challenge, they wanted somebody in the corner who is a tough prizefighter, and John Burton certainly is that. Very colorful, and he's going to take the party into the next series of elections, and a big challenge there, so they wanted somebody who was a seasoned veteran, and John Burton certainly is that.
Julian: Carla Marinucci is the senior political reporter for the
San Francisco Chronicle. Thanks very much.
Marinucci: Thanks for having me.
