Want to be governor? Then stay out of Sacramento

By JIM BOREN
jboren@fresnobee.com

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Here's a tip for the Democrats and Republicans who want to be the next governor of California: Stay as far away from the state Capitol as you can. The last thing you want is to have any connection to the politicians who have turned the Golden State into the Incompetent State.

The California Legislature, once considered among the nation's best, has become a home for a bunch of finger-pointing whiners. That would be fine if they weren't ruining our schools, highways and prisons. But they are doing real damage now, and California families are hurting.

Voters are catching onto legislative shenanigans, which is why they passed redistricting reform last month.

Now, potential successors to Gov. Schwarzenegger are surfacing for 2010.

The Democrats are recycling Jerry Brown, and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is running again. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to be the Democratic nominee, and even state Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell thinks he has a shot. Sen. Dianne Feinstein could win the nomination easily, but it's becoming less likely she'll run.

On the GOP side, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has been all over the state touting his ideas. He could be battling former Rep. Tom Campbell and Meg Whitman, the former head of eBay.

After his work protecting Californians in insurance matters, Poizner is well-positioned for the gubernatorial run. But then I saw this entry on his campaign Web site: "Since the launch of his exploratory committee in September 2008, Poizner has been endorsed by 70 percent of the Republicans in the newly sworn-in Legislature including nine senators and

22 members of the Assembly." Whoops.

Political insiders think these endorsements will help Poizner, but I don't think he should be telling voters that he's pals with legislators. That's dangerously close to saying he's part of Sacramento's tired old political scene -- the group that's turning California into a third-rate state.

I'd say the same thing to the Democrats. If Assembly Speaker Karen Bass or Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg offered endorsements, I'd tell the gubernatorial candidates to run in the other direction.

If the next governor wants to lead California back to greatness, he or she needs to send a strong message that it's time for a new political model. And California legislators shouldn't be a part of it.

First, let's make serving in the Legislature a part-time job. At least they wouldn't be doing full-time damage, and we wouldn't have to pay them as much for doing it.

Legislators don't understand the concept of not spending more money than the state takes in. They grab money from programs that help the elderly and disabled and give it to the overtime-abuse schemes prison guards have concocted. They let the state's credit rating drop just to make political points. They think gridlock is a badge of honor.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if the next governor were surrounded by the brightest people outside of the Legislature? That would be a change California voters would embrace.

Boren is The Fresno Bee's editorial page editor. E-mail him at jboren@fresnobee.com.