Money & Politics | Daily Report

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It was the worst of times.

In this tale of two governors, the state's precarious financial condition is about all that unites Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov.-elect Jerry Brown, set to be inaugurated today in Sacramento.

When Schwarzenegger came into office, he faced budget deficits nearing $30 billion in a post-recessionary period and a gridlocked state Capitol, as does Brown now.

That is where the similarities between the two end.

As bad as the budget and the economy were when Schwarzenegger took office, Brown faces a measurably worse situation. The unemployment rate is more than double what it was in fall 2003 (6.1 percent vs. 12.3 percent), and Brown won't be able to use all the budget deferrals and borrowing that Schwarzenegger used to muddle through the last seven years. 

Schwarzenegger ran on a platform replete with promises, the most important of which he was unable to deliver on. Principally, he promised to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse and get the state out of debt by cutting up the state’s credit card. His promise to "blow up the boxes" of government went virtually nowhere.

Brown made no bold promises on the campaign trail (although his detailed policy platform [PDF] received little attention, and Brown did not draw much attention to it). Instead of raising expectations, he has tried to lower them. He is now trying to convince Californians that things are worse than they (and he) imagined.

Schwarzenegger was elected by taking advantage of the first gubernatorial recall campaign in California’s history, facing only token opposition from a weak Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and 133 other candidates. 

In contrast, Brown had to fight off the state's first billionaire candidate for office who spent more of her own money – and more money, period – than any gubernatorial candidate in U.S. history.

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When he became governor, Schwarzenegger was a celebrity who had never spent a day in public office, with only limited knowledge of the state. As he candidly admitted to the Los Angeles Times' Patt Morrison in his final days as governor, "I tell you, California became the classroom for me in the last seven years. I thought I knew a lot, but there is so much more to learn. It has been a real interesting journey."

Brown has been in public life for decades (first elected to the Los Angeles Community College Board in in 1969), accumulating immense knowledge of Sacramento and contacts throughout the state, and with far less to learn than his predecessor. 

The most enduring symbol of Schwarzenegger’s governorship is likely to be the smoking tent he erected in the middle of the state Capitol, offending the sensibilities of non-cigar smoking Californians, using his charm in one-on-one conversations to woo friends and foes alike.

Brown is trying to erect a big tent, metaphorically speaking at least, inviting representatives from diverse and competing constituencies to participate in the process of rescuing the state from fiscal oblivion. His message seems to be: We’re all in this together.

Schwarzenegger's "post-partisan" profile didn't last long. He seemed to relish bashing the opposition, calling Democratic lawmakers "girlie men," threatening to “kick the butts" of California nurses, and calling three statewide officeholders "the three stooges." 

Brown, so far at least, has gone out of his way not to offend anyone, treating everyone at his two town hall meetings with deference. That will almost certainly change once he has to start governing.  

While governor, Schwarzenegger stayed in a 2,000-square-foot hotel penthouse when in Sacramento, and used his Gulfstream jet to fly back almost nightly to his 11,000-square-foot mansion in 

Brentwood when he wasn't needed at the Capitol.

Brown won't be sleeping on a mattress on a floor this time but has rented a one-bedroom apartment (admittedly described as "upscale" in various media reports) for him and his wife in downtown Sacramento. When they aren't there, he'll be driving to their very comfortable home in the Oakland hills (valued at $1.8 million in one report). 

On entering office, Schwarzenegger promised to listen to the “people of California” rather than “special interests” in Sacramento. But despite his celebrity quotient and charisma, voters rejected many of the ballot initiatives he insisted would bring sanity and solvency back to California.

Brown has none of that celebrity to draw on. Yet he too has promised to go to the people to get their approval in the one area that California desperately needs: more revenue.

At at time when Californians have few illusions about the state, or the country, a central question is waiting to be answered: Can California be governed, regardless of how similar or different its governors are?

Based on California's story over the last decade, there is not much room for optimism.  But the lack of illusions may force some sanity into the political equation.  At least Brown offers the possibility that his accumulated wisdom, combined with the relentless pragmatism he has displayed so far will be more effective than the seductive mix of wishful thinking and celebrity appeal Californians have been sipping for the past eight years.