California, single-payer and Jerry Brown

DCBlogger at Corrente quotes an earlier post about single-payer in California, which I believe has a good chance of passage if -- when -- Jerry Brown becomes governor.

Jerry Brown has announced his opposition to single payer. However, as it has passed the California legislature TWICE only to be vetoed by the Gropinator. I don't think that Brown would actually veto it, but something to keep in mind.

I don't want to say that Brown may be playing chess, because that terminology has taken on a rather greasy overtone. But I suspect that he will run much further right than he will govern. Neither he nor any other Democrat in this state can avoid leaning right while in campaign mode: California has far more "red" areas than many outsiders suppose.

Jerry Brown, as younger readers may not know, has always been an unpredictable political animal. When he was governor previously, he campaigned rather vigorously against Proposition 13 and in favor of Prop 8, a (much wiser) rival reform package. But when the voters went for 13, he got on television, outlined how he intended to make the thing work, and convinced half the people in the state that he had written the initiative.

Brown's actual words on single-payer in California are a bit enigmatic -- one might even say Delphic. He said that it "will not happen" on the federal level. That's a prognostication, not a wish. He also said that he wasn't sure about it at the state level. Again, that's predictive. He obviously does not care to discuss his personal opinion as to what would work best.

On the radio back in '90s, his positions were firmly leftist. (Some of those old shows will probably come back to haunt him.) But he was also candid about admitting that the business of running for office requires compromises. As I recall, during an on-air interview with Gore Vidal, Brown came out and said "It's amazing how little we sell out for." I think he now hopes for just one more term as governor -- this time, with the sell-out threshold set at a much higher level.

In 2008, a lot of progressives seemed to believe that Obama would be a "Putney Swope" -- a corporate flunky who turns radical the moment he achieves power. Although Obama dashed those hopes, Brown may actually pull off the trick. He's old now, he has no hope of higher office, and he never gave a damn about the buck. So although Jerry Brown may say whatever he needs to say to win the election, I think that he could, after victory, explode into one crazy septuagenarian mofo.