Filibuster CartoonsTitle: Ebay election (click to view)
Date: September 24, 2010
Of all the heated mid-term elections unfolding across the United States this fall, none have captured my imagination more than the race for governor of California. It's a fascinating case study of remarkable variables and peculiarities, and will no doubt be analyzed by political scientists for many decades to come.
On the Republican side, we have Meg Whitman, the former CEO of Ebay. A run-of-the-mill moderate California conservative, in ordinary times she wouldn't get much of a second look. But Meg is rich. Very very rich, in fact, and remarkably willing to spend in the pursuit of power. Last week Whitman made headlines as the "
biggest self-funded candidate in US history," or, in other words, the wealthiest American who has blown the largest chunk of his or her personal fortune on a single political campaign. The previous record holder had been Michael Bloomberg, the media mogul-
cum-New York City mayor, who spent $110 million last year in his narrow bid for re-election. Meg's tally is currently at $119 million.
Then on the Democratic side, we have Jerry Brown. Brown is probably one of the most famous politicians in California (if not US) history, and surely must be up for some sort of Guinness title for the sheer amount of elected offices he has either held or sought. He was already governor once before, a staggering 26 years ago, and since then he's run for senate and president a couple of times (the latter inspiring a "Dead Kennedys" song), and was successfully elected mayor of Oakland in 1999, and later California attorney general in 2006. As far as state officials go, you can't really get name recognition much higher than Jerry's.
Brown is famously eccentric and frugal, however, and to date has spent less than $1 million on his campaign for a much-delayed third term as governor. By some estimates, his entire campaign has cost less than the Whitman campaign has spent on
postage. And yet, he is still narrowly leading in the polls despite it all.
You can look at this data and draw a number of conclusions. Is Whitman coming on too strong? Does Brown have too much of a "establishment" head start for her to overcome? Could Brown's lackadaisical under-campaigning ultimately prove just as harmful? If Meg wins, will anyone credit her victory to anything other than her money?
I know I have a lot of California readers, and I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this race. What do you think it says about politics in your state? Who do you think is going to win, and more importantly, why?
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