A Democratic Governor Returns, in Spirit

Sacramento--Only four Democrats were elected governor of California in the 20th century, and three were on display one day last week in the Capitol.

There’ll be plenty of time to write about Arnold Schwarzenegger, I figured. He hasn’t even been sworn in yet. For now, I’ll watch this unique piece of history.

It was Gov. Gray Davis’ last public act at the Capitol, and he was naming the governor’s horseshoe-shaped office suite in honor of a Democratic icon, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown (governor 1959-67), “the builder.”

Pat Brown died in 1996, but an official portrait was undraped along with a large plaque on the door that visitors must walk through en route to see the new Gov. Schwarzenegger.

It’ll be a perpetual reminder to Schwarzenegger that he’s here “in the shadow of Pat Brown,” quipped former Gov. Jerry Brown (1975-83), Pat’s son and now the Oakland mayor.

Davis was Jerry Brown’s top aide in small-world Sacramento.

The first Democratic governor of the 1900s, Culbert Olson (1939-43), got booted from office even faster than Davis, beaten for reelection by Earl Warren. Pat Brown’s third-term bid was thwarted by Ronald Reagan.

“It’s not easy for a Democrat to get to this office, and it’s not very easy for a Democrat to stay,” noted Jerry Brown, the only one of the four to leave voluntarily.

That drew laughter from the roughly three-dozen Browns on hand, including a dozen of Pat’s wide-eyed great-grandkids.

One grandchild, Kathleen Kelly of San Francisco, was sworn in by Davis as a Superior Court judge. This was his final, final act. She was an assistant U.S. attorney.

Davis was widely criticized for many actions -- and inactions -- but rarely for his judgeship appointments. Their high quality was praised by all sides.

Years ago, a Republican governor named the Cabinet room -- just off the governor’s private “corner office” -- after the GOP icon, Reagan. A Reagan portrait hangs there.

“I was shocked,” Jerry Brown jested, asserting that with this Davis dedication, “the balance is appropriate.”

Davis started to tear up when he observed: “I can’t think of a better way to wrap it up than to honor Pat Brown.” But he paused and quickly collected himself.

Afterward, Jerry told reporters he is “looking very hard” at running for attorney general in 2006. He’s keenly interested in prison reform, he said.

Also: “I’ve been in office, and I’ve been out of office. And if I were to choose, I’d rather be in office.”

About then, Davis motioned and invited me back into the corner office to chat. A final interview. It would be the last time he’d use the office as governor. Already, the bookshelves were empty and the desk bare.

What went wrong? I asked. I’d written my views, but wanted to hear his.

“What went wrong,” he replied, “is we had a national recession. People’s economic conditions declined, and that is always bad news for incumbents.”

If Davis is torturing himself about missteps, it’s not showing.

“There are things I did wrong that contributed to my dilemma,” he continued. “Whether those things would have made the difference in a race against Arnold Schwarzenegger, I doubt it. In a race against a mere mortal, it probably would have....

“Arnold Schwarzenegger is a celebrity who is well-liked, well-known and wealthy. And that’s a very potent combination in California politics. The last one we saw was Ronald Reagan.

“Moreover, Schwarzenegger was known as an action hero. And people want action in Sacramento.”

If Schwarzenegger hadn’t run, Davis said, “I think we had a fighting chance. I really do.”

What will he do now? “The strong probability” is that he’ll start or join a foundation to monitor the education reforms he enacted. He calls them his proudest achievement -- the higher standards and accountability.

“You have to keep the spotlight on K-12, on improving test scores,” he said. “If you don’t, they’ll drift back where we were. Then you just shortchanged the next generation.”

Is he done with politics, this career pol, who at his peak was considered a 2004 presidential possibility?

“I don’t know whether I’ll run for public office again. I’m not ruling it out. But I don’t have anything in mind.”

Certainly not now. The final count of voters: 44.6% to keep him, 55.4% to terminate.

He’ll be on the Capitol’s west steps for today’s swearing-in of Schwarzenegger, he said, because outgoing governors always have attended inaugurals. He’ll leave with his head high.

A lingering staffer pulled me away so Davis could leave the horseshoe once and for all.

Departing, I recalled what Jerry Brown had said an hour earlier about Schwarzenegger: “Very disciplined, very focused. I would expect something more than the ordinary.”

I glanced out at the large open patio inside the horseshoe -- a cigar smoker’s haven -- and imagined some future governor naming it: “The Arnold Schwarzenegger Courtyard.”