The long-awaited confrontation between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman came and went, and every news junkie from L.A. to
Redway analyzed the encounter. The bottom line: Brown and Whitman labored mightily but gave forth
a mouse.
From KQED's John Myers: "About two thirds of the way through tonight's gubernatorial
debate, anyone hoping to see something different from
these two candidates surely had to have changed the
channel."
"That's not to say Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown weren't
making any important points in this matchup, rather
that the first debate seemed to reinforce the narrative
that's developed in this race so far: Whitman as a careful, messaged candidate expressing
disdain for politicians... Brown as a frenetic, shoot
from the hip public persona who constantly must defend
his long history in elected office."
"Good luck figuring out who won."
Well, Dan Walters, no admirer of Brown, figured out who won: Whitman.
"That said, Republican Whitman could be viewed as a
winner of sorts because she proved that after the better
part of two years of campaigning for governor, she's
learned to handle herself fairly well in public arenas
and no longer flees when confronted with a tough question.
Simply put, she held her own."
"Democrat Brown was – well, he was Brown, the glib, sometimes humorous,
off-the-cuff philosopher-prince who sometimes doesn't know when to stop talking.
Tellingly, he was rambling on during what was supposed
to be his brief closing statement and had to be cut
off by the debate moderator."
Perhaps the most interesting event at the debate happened
after the sparring was over, and Brown was a no-show at the post-debate confab.. The reporters were not pleased.
From Anthony York at the LAT: "Then the media waited for Brown. And waited. Finally,
word came that Brown was not going to come to the spin
room, but was going to go outside to talk to "real
people," whoever those are."
"Soon, a crowd gathered in the lobby, as TV cameras
and reporters created an amorphous blog, trailing Brown
as he ambled through the lobby.
Brown stepped outside into the warm Davis evening where
he was greeted by protesters shouting: "What's your plan?!"
Meanwhile, the debate wasn't the only thing going on at UC Davis, reports the Bee's Laurel Rosenhall and Torey Van
Oot.
"Nurses staged a play denouncing "Queen Meg" while
labor unions mocked Whitman's eBay experience by holding
a spoof auction to sell off California's parks, schools
and other public assets. The demonstrations briefly
turned ugly, as a chanting match between dueling groups
escalated into shoves."
"Dozens of Brown supporters had been gathered for more
than an hour when roughly 30 students from around the region wearing green Whitman
shirts marched onto the plaza chanting "Go, Meg, Go!"
and "No more reruns!"
Talk is cheap and whiskey is expensive, as the saying
goes, so let's move on from the debates.
A federal judge halted the scheduled execution of Alberft Greenwood
Brown, reports Carol J. Williams in the L.A. Times.
" U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel reversed a decision
he handed down Friday that the execution could go forward
if the state gave Brown the option of dying by a single-injection method used in other states, rather than
the three-drug cocktail prescribed by California's new regulations."
"A federal appeals court returned the case to Fogel
late Monday, saying he had "erred" in offering Brown
an execution method unauthorized in this state."
And to wrap up a busy day, we look for relief in our
"Things Could Always Be Worse" file.
If you're 35, lonely, unhappy in your relationships, hate your
job and not getting enough sex, cheer up -- you've got LOTS of company.
"The study blames a shift in work culture that means
that if men are less than halfway up the career ladder
by their mid-30s, they are unlikely to get to the top - with the average age of a chief executive now 48, down from 59 a generation ago."
"Therefore, around 35, excessive work often collides with young children
as well as anxiety over money, mortgages, pensions
and aging parents, in a toxic mix."
"More than 2000 people of all ages were interviewed for the study
by UK marriage guidance service Relate."
So if you have plenty of sex, lots of money and a great
job, you'll be fine. I knew that....
