To Succeed, Davis Needs to Shun Wedge Politics . . .

After 16 long years, California finally can start moving forward again. The historic landslide election victory and impending inauguration of Gray Davis as governor mark an enormous opportunity both for the Democratic Party and for the people of California.

With increased majorities in both houses of the Legislature and a savvy governor, Democrats are poised to tighten their grip on the once Republican Golden State in the post-2000 census reapportionment, when California should receive several more seats in Congress and votes in the electoral college. By itself, the next California reapportionment could regain the House of Representatives for the Democratic Party.

But in order for this national partisan advantage to be locked in, the new Democratic era in state government will have to be a success. To succeed, we must proceed with a sensible vision. Government can’t solve all the problems. But it has to solve some of them. California is an ongoing experiment. We’re going to find out early in the new century whether the most diverse state in human history is going to make it.

Diversity is becoming a hallmark of the Davis administration-in-waiting. He has appointed the first female chief gubernatorial aide in California history, along with the first Latino press secretary and appointments secretary. More important, he has pledged an end to the divisive racial wedge politics that stand as the legacy of Gov. Pete Wilson’s two terms.

I’ve known the governor-elect since 1980. He is a capable man with a deep grounding in power politics and a keen awareness of the leading edge. Davis has defined the New Center in California politics, a blend of traditionally liberal and conservative views on critical issues, which he has been developing since he left his post as Jerry Brown’s chief of staff and won elective office in 1982. They range from staunch support for abortion rights, gun control and environmental regulation to equally adamant backing for the death penalty and rank-and-file law enforcement.

And he has recognized that simply preserving the programs of the past won’t win the future. If troubled public institutions aren’t revitalized and made more effective, the people will turn against them. It happened with welfare. It could happen with public education.

Education is fundamental for the future. And fundamentals--teacher preparation, basic skills development, accountability--are the keys to the future of a badly ailing system. As is the recognition that, while more spending is needed, more isn’t necessarily better; better is better.

But change comes from the edge of the crowd, not the middle where it’s hard to see beyond the people bunched together talking to one another. For this reason, Davis should pursue a “taupe agenda,” a melding of sensible gray and more daring brown.

California has become the global state, the most powerful in the nation, seventh largest economy in the world, an epicenter of economic, social and environmental changes. If we’re at all concerned about the direction of this increasingly dumbed-down, super-sized, gas-guzzling culture, we have to recognize that we are a society based on information, challenged by fragmentation and fundamentally threatened by our inability to live lightly on the planet.

Since the development and diffusion of advanced technology is one of the principal drivers of this age, we need to look for ways to use new technology to more rapidly benefit all.

The governor-elect is especially fond of an inscription on a state office building in Sacramento: “Bring me men to match my mountains.” Throughout our history, the people of California have matched its mountains, but too often the leaders have not.

If Davis and the Democrats can focus on the underlying challenge of managing change--preparing for it, spreading its benefits more equitably, minimizing its damage to the future--they will match California’s mountains.