Leadership Demonstration III

The Bee's coverage of our Lieutenant Governor's announcement yesterday that he would again try for the top spot was about right, albeit it would have better been placed on the funny pages. John Garamendi said "California is not a movie set, and gridlock is not acceptable." Gee, what a remarkably cogent phrase. How would the Lt. Gov solve our fiscal woes? First, he'd raise taxes (and then of course he would make spending reductions).

Garamendi has a long political resume. He was an assemblyman and state senator during which time he ran for governor twice. He was also state insurance commissioner (indeed, his predecessor ran for insurance commissioner from his post as Lieutenant Governor - thankfully the voters of California stomped down that ambition). He served for a time in the Clinton administration in Washington before coming back to become Insurance Commissioner again. In the first instance of his role as insurance commissioner he is generally credited as doing an incompetent job in sorting out the failure of a company called Executive Life.

Garamendi is a charming guy. He did some interesting things during his legislative career. But the Bee described his political accomplishments as a mix of pander to pander "He stood front and center to express concerns for two wayward humpback whales who traveled up the Sacramento River, even naming them "Delta and Dawn." And he has publicly has used his post as a University of California regent and California State University trustee to demand lower tuition for students."

The article quotes a Sonoma State political scientist as saying Garamendi is a "B list" candidate. There are several strong potential candidates in both the democrat and republican ranks, including his successor as insurance commissioner and the current state treasurer. It is unlikely that Garamendi will ever return to the A list.