Why is California Governor Jerry Brown so Popular?

The most effective public sector leader in America

today may be California Governor Jerry Brown with a
58 percent job approval rating in an age of bitter
anti-incumbent feeling.
Despite the thought that California is ungovernable,
Jerry Brown has led the way in turning a budget
deficit of $25 billion into a surplus of more than $4
billion; helped produce the states first broad tax
increase in years; seen the creation of a million new
jobs and a 4-percentage-point drop in the
unemployment rate; regulated the states dwindling
groundwater resources and presided over a
population influx when many said California was
dying due to population loss.
The turnaround has been stunning, not only for
California but for Brown himself. He left office after
two terms in 1983 with voters disapproving his
performance by nearly the same margin they now
applaud it.
So what happened? His eight years as mayor of
Oakland, from 1999 to 2007. There, he received a
midlife crash course in the gritty realities of
municipal governance potholes and public safety,
neighborhood redevelopment and local finances. He
returned to the governors chair with a greater
appreciation of the practicalities of political
leadership from the ground up.
Browns politics have long been tough to pigeonhole.
He has always been a little fiscally conservative and
now opposes some liberal beliefs like legalizing

Why is California Governor Jerry Brown so Popular?

marijuana. Whats fascinating about Brown, is that

he doesnt have a pollster. He goes into the issues
with his eyes wide open. I think a lot of politicians
dont think for themselves. They simply do what the
consultants tell them. I think independent thinking is
something that pleases voters.

1. What is a great achievement of Browns

as Governor?
2. What does the article mean by an age
of bitter anti-incumbent feeling?
3. Why is Brown a good solution to this
problem?
4. What does the article imply was wrong
with Californias government in the past?
5. Why would being a Mayor help Brown
as Governor?
6. How would you describe Browns
political beliefs based on the political
chart?
7. How does the article say Brown
determines what he should think about
political issues?
8. What do you think of Browns style of
politics? Do you think it could help him
run for President?