What Albert Einstein Might Have Said to Jerry Brown

I've been re-reading one of the best books ever written about California politics, Greg Mitchell's The Campaign of the Century, an account of the 1934 race for governor.

In it, Mitchell quotes from a letter that Albert Einstein wrote to Upton Sinclair, the socialist writer who was the Democratic nominee for governor that year, after reading I, Governor, a book in which Sinclair laid out what he would do if he were elected. Einstein's missive includes this priceless reminder:

"You know, indeed much better than I, that nothing annoys people more than if one tries honestly to help them."

Tackling big problems is a priceless task, whether you're a new governor or a reformer desperately trying to get Californians to reckon with their governmental problems.

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