Two of the brightest young lights in the San Diego political sky -- Democrat Bryan Crane and Republican Andrew Lund -- are weighing in every other week on hot topics.
This week's topic: Who should take the reigns from Arnold Schwarzennegger and why? -- Ed.
Lund's Punch: Of the two major Republicans running for governor, I believe Meg Whitman should succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger. As CEO of eBay, she revolutionized the company that was almost bankrupt and turned it into an $8 billion company with 15,000 employees by 2008.
She also represents the kind of outside-the-box thinking that California needs. Unlike the major candidate for the Democrat nomination, Jerry Brown, Meg Whitman does not come from the Sacramento insider crew. She has been out in the real world, doing real work. She has created jobs and will stand up for California when it comes to turning our water back on and getting our state’s economic productivity back on track. She is committed to reforming our broken budget and our schools. Clearly, Meg Whitman is the best choice for governor.
Crane's Punch: Meg Whitman, like Schwarzenegger, imagines running government like a business. Her recently issued policy book calls for massive curtailment of government spending and public services. Downsizing may be the current trend in corporate America, but her proposals are wrong for California. Californians don't want to see fewer teachers in our schools and our parks closed.
Instead, we want leadership that balances the need for functional government with a natural aversion to excessive taxation. Jerry Brown helped strike this balance by implementing Prop 13 when voters adopted that landmark law and developing fair alternatives to maintain adequate state revenues.
As Schwarzenegger discovered, government doesn’t operate by the top-down administration applied to corporations. It's about consensus and coalition building. Jerry Brown has the experience and relationships to implement solutions to the tremendous challenges facing California.
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Lund's Counterpunch: The difference between the two leading candidates of either party in this race could not be more dramatic. In Meg Whitman, we have a business leader with a fresh perspective. In Jerry Brown, we have the worst example of a career politician ever. Also, Governor Brown only accepted Prop 13 when he was forced to by the voters. He campaigned against it until that time.
Crane's Counterpunch: Are Internet millionaires geniuses or were they at the right place at the right time? Can a millionaire become a billionaire with insider IPO information from Goldman Sachs? While impressive, let's not over-read Meg's success. Jerry Brown's position on fiscal policy, energy, education and environment are right for California. His experience -- governor, mayor, attorney general -- have proven his ability to succeed in creating solutions.
Bryan Crane, who is the president of the San Diego County Young Democrats, earned his PhD at MIT in 2005, works at San Diego biotech Illumina and admits to being unable to run in flip-flops.
Andrew Lund is the current president of the San Diego Young Republicans.
