Jerry Brown, Andrew Cuomo similar but different
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
San Francisco Chronicle July 2, 2011 04:00 AM
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and California Gov. Jerry Brown are on opposite coasts, but they have a lot in common as leaders of powerhouse blue states.
Both are politically ambitious former attorneys general, sons of governors, and steeped in Democratic values and strong Catholic educations. But after an often-combative six months in office, Cuomo and Brown have emerged with different achievements.
Brown signed a budget by Thursday's deadline after cutting $26.6 billion in red ink. But he failed, after months of exhaustive negotiations, to get even one Republican lawmaker to agree with his goal of balancing the budget with tax extensions and program cuts.
Cuomo, too, passed a budget, erasing $10 billion without raising taxes. But he topped that by persuading a Republican-controlled Senate to pass a legislation making New York the largest state in the nation to allow same-sex couples to marry.
"Andrew Cuomo is the son rising in the East; Jerry Brown is setting in the West," one of California's best known Democratic politicians said this week on condition that he not be named. "Cuomo is on his way up; Jerry is on his way out."
Leading Republicans were also taking shots. "Cuomo's a comer. The guy's got a 64 percent approval rating," said California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro, whose party fought Brown tooth and nail on his call to extend taxes.
Del Beccaro said recent polls show that Brown has the approval of less than half of Californians and that the difference between Brown and Cuomo is about style and message.
"If you look at Cuomo's rhetoric, it's 'We can do better - and I won't put anybody down,' " said Del Beccaro. "You don't get that with Jerry Brown."
"If either Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon came back from the dead, would anyone expect they would know how to deal successfully with the highly partisan, extremely ideological Republicans who now populate the Congress?," said Democratic strategist Garry South, who served as an adviser to former Gov. Gray Davis.
"Likewise, having been governor 35 years ago didn't really prepare Brown for the zealously antitax, afraid-of-their-own-shadow Republicans who now sit in the Legislature."
Gil Duran, Brown's spokesman, said that while California Democrats "applaud Gov. Cuomo" for his achievements, the New York governor had some help getting the job done.
"For one thing, there were four reasonable Republicans in the New York Legislature, which do not exist in the California Legislature," Duran said Friday. In the Empire State, "they realized the importance of being relevant." Brown had needed two Republican votes each in the state Senate and Assembly to put the tax extensions on the ballot.
Political observers from both parties also cited differences in the political playing fields in the two states: In New York, there are no term limits, so legislators on both sides of the aisle are more experienced - "not on training wheels," as one Sacramento observer put it - and more willing to establish and maintain relationships with the opposition.
Cuomo also did not have to worry about a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to raise taxes, which is the law in California.
But the California governor and New York's leader - who is getting buzz as a Democratic presidential contender in 2016 - made "totally different strategy decisions" to deal with it.
"Cuomo played an outsider's game, immediately started going around and drumming up popular support" for his positions, said Whalen. "He took the conversation outside of Albany," a move that gave him more political strength for tough battles, such as striking compromises to limit property taxes and contain Medicare costs.
"Jerry made the opposite decision, and played an insider's game," Whalen said, "He tried to stay in Sacramento and negotiate with Republicans."
Early in the process, Whalen added, Brown could have commanded the GOP's attention if he had "threatened them with a signature-gathering drive and said, 'OK, you and I will negotiate - or I'll take it to the people.' "
Del Beccaro said Republicans anticipated a Brown move toward pension reform, a spending cap and regulatory reform, but he didn't deliver.
Duran argues that the California GOP was determined not to compromise, like the Republicans in Minnesota who would not agree to raise taxes, prompting a shutdown of many state services on Friday.
"There is this idea," Duran added, that refusing to negotiate "is good for the Republican cause." In California, Republicans "didn't even want people to vote" on the budget package. "We didn't play along with that."
Andrew Cuomo: New York's governor signed a bill, with key votes from Republicans, to make New York the largest state to allow same-sex couples to marry. He also got a budget passed with bipartisan support that erased $10 billion in red ink without raising taxes.
Both are politically ambitious former attorneys general, sons of governors, and steeped in Democratic values and strong Catholic educations. But after an often-combative six months in office, Cuomo and Brown have emerged with different achievements.
Brown signed a budget by Thursday's deadline after cutting $26.6 billion in red ink. But he failed, after months of exhaustive negotiations, to get even one Republican lawmaker to agree with his goal of balancing the budget with tax extensions and program cuts.
Cuomo, too, passed a budget, erasing $10 billion without raising taxes. But he topped that by persuading a Republican-controlled Senate to pass a legislation making New York the largest state in the nation to allow same-sex couples to marry.
"Andrew Cuomo is the son rising in the East; Jerry Brown is setting in the West," one of California's best known Democratic politicians said this week on condition that he not be named. "Cuomo is on his way up; Jerry is on his way out."
Leading Republicans were also taking shots. "Cuomo's a comer. The guy's got a 64 percent approval rating," said California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro, whose party fought Brown tooth and nail on his call to extend taxes.
Del Beccaro said recent polls show that Brown has the approval of less than half of Californians and that the difference between Brown and Cuomo is about style and message.
"If you look at Cuomo's rhetoric, it's 'We can do better - and I won't put anybody down,' " said Del Beccaro. "You don't get that with Jerry Brown."
Complicated politics
Even Brown's critics say he made a valiant attempt to bring Republicans on board with his plan and can't be blamed for a long-established patchwork of legislative and fiscal troubles that underscore California politics."If either Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon came back from the dead, would anyone expect they would know how to deal successfully with the highly partisan, extremely ideological Republicans who now populate the Congress?," said Democratic strategist Garry South, who served as an adviser to former Gov. Gray Davis.
"Likewise, having been governor 35 years ago didn't really prepare Brown for the zealously antitax, afraid-of-their-own-shadow Republicans who now sit in the Legislature."
Gil Duran, Brown's spokesman, said that while California Democrats "applaud Gov. Cuomo" for his achievements, the New York governor had some help getting the job done.
"For one thing, there were four reasonable Republicans in the New York Legislature, which do not exist in the California Legislature," Duran said Friday. In the Empire State, "they realized the importance of being relevant." Brown had needed two Republican votes each in the state Senate and Assembly to put the tax extensions on the ballot.
Political observers from both parties also cited differences in the political playing fields in the two states: In New York, there are no term limits, so legislators on both sides of the aisle are more experienced - "not on training wheels," as one Sacramento observer put it - and more willing to establish and maintain relationships with the opposition.
Cuomo also did not have to worry about a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to raise taxes, which is the law in California.
Playing the game
Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and an adviser to former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, said Brown - a former two-term governor who first took office in 1975 - and Cuomo "both came into office recognizing the severity of the (budget) problem."But the California governor and New York's leader - who is getting buzz as a Democratic presidential contender in 2016 - made "totally different strategy decisions" to deal with it.
"Cuomo played an outsider's game, immediately started going around and drumming up popular support" for his positions, said Whalen. "He took the conversation outside of Albany," a move that gave him more political strength for tough battles, such as striking compromises to limit property taxes and contain Medicare costs.
"Jerry made the opposite decision, and played an insider's game," Whalen said, "He tried to stay in Sacramento and negotiate with Republicans."
Early in the process, Whalen added, Brown could have commanded the GOP's attention if he had "threatened them with a signature-gathering drive and said, 'OK, you and I will negotiate - or I'll take it to the people.' "
Del Beccaro said Republicans anticipated a Brown move toward pension reform, a spending cap and regulatory reform, but he didn't deliver.
Duran argues that the California GOP was determined not to compromise, like the Republicans in Minnesota who would not agree to raise taxes, prompting a shutdown of many state services on Friday.
"There is this idea," Duran added, that refusing to negotiate "is good for the Republican cause." In California, Republicans "didn't even want people to vote" on the budget package. "We didn't play along with that."
Tale of two governors
Jerry Brown: California's governor signed a budget Thursday that closed a $26.6 billion gap after vetoing a budget passed by Democrats that was not balanced. Lacking a single GOP vote, he abandoned his call for tax extensions to be decided by voters.Andrew Cuomo: New York's governor signed a bill, with key votes from Republicans, to make New York the largest state to allow same-sex couples to marry. He also got a budget passed with bipartisan support that erased $10 billion in red ink without raising taxes.
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