It was the old Chicago columnist Mike Royko who back in the day called California Governor Jerry Brown, “Governor Moonbeam.” That was when Brown was serving his first terms as governor, sleeping on a mattress on the floor, doing yoga and dating Linda Ronstadt.
Of course, I was doing those things too. Except for the yoga and Linda Ronstadt.
These days Brown’s statements about schools and testing make him sound positively grounded compared to Newt Gingrich and Willard Mitt Romney.
Frankly, it makes Brown seem positively grounded compared to Education Secretary Arne Duncan and President Obama.
Although Obama paid lip service to having less emphasis on testing, there’s nothing coming out of the Department of Education that would lead you to believe that the administration has plans to change much other than the names of things. For example, there was no mention of Race to the Top in the State of the Union address.
But when it comes to Obama, the Man was born with good electoral karma.
When Obama ran for Senate in Illinois, he had opponents who were discovered to have had sordid secret sex lives or were so far to the right that they would make Michelle Bachmann seem reasonable. He won in a landslide.
When Obama ran for President the first time he had the good fortune to have as an opponent a guy who acted like an old geezer chasing kids off his lawn and who had a running mate named Sarah Palin.
And now he has “No tax” Willard and The Grandiose One.
While Obama doesn’t have a lock on November, the Republicans are sure making it easier.
Yesterday The Grandiose One proposed establishing a colony on the moon and Willard hinted at invading Cuba.
How does Obama manage to get guys like this as opponents?
A CBS poll done after the State of the Union found that 91% of those responding liked Obama’s speech. 91% of the American people don’t like much of anything at the moment. Such is the power of the Republican Party to unite people.
Against them.
I can only wonder what Mike Royko might have said about those two moonbeams.
Fred Klonsky 