Is Everyone Having Fun? : Brown, hanging on, outsmarts everyone, but Sacramento only outsmarts itself

It’s not over till it’s over, not in football and not in the California Assembly. Assemblyman Willie Brown is the ultimate counterargument to anyone who thinks politics is dull. Already he’s survived far longer than anyone ever thought he would when he won the Assembly Speaker post in 1980. And Monday he got some some surprise help--a surprise to everyone but Brown--when onetime Republican now independent Assemblyman Paul Horcher voted to keep him as Assembly Speaker.

Brown well may survive the November electoral swing to the right and remain Speaker--though he might have to cut a power-sharing deal with his rival for the job, GOP Assemblyman Jim Brulte. As much fun as political junkies are having watching the peerless Brown outthink and outmaneuver everyone, it’s time to get down to business.

Little can get done in the California Assembly while Democrats and Republicans fight over the top job. The current stalemate over who will be the next Speaker creates a gridlock that could hold up the timely running of government. That’s not why voters send representatives to Sacramento.

To encourage the bipartisanship needed to govern smoothly, a deal will have to be made to share power. Democrats dominate the Assembly’s staff and its budget; there are 600 Democratic staffers with a budget of $20 million versus 250 Republican staffers with a budget of $7 million. The near-even split of Democratic and Republican votes mandates a new arrangement.

Cooperation may be too much to hope for in Sacramento, but a stalemate won’t wash with voters who will tire easily of political games. Assembly Republicans Tuesday hid out for a while, trying to deny Brown the quorum he needs to proceed. Democrats used a similar strategy in Washington more than a century ago, according to the late historian Barbara Tuchman. House rules allowed members to thwart a quorum by demanding a roll call and then refusing to answer. Their silence stilled debate until powerful Republican Speaker Thomas Reed ruled them all present. To deny him a quorum, the Democrats slipped out of the room, before eventually the doors were locked. The Democrats who remained inside hid under desks and behind doors until a couple of Democrats could be brought in on sickbeds and a third just happened to show up to make a quorum.

Assembly Republicans announced Tuesday that they would not return until Jan. 4; Brown and Brulte are likely to meet before then. They should make it sooner rather than later. Prolonged paralysis would only make voters more cynical and hurt state government.