SERIOUS CANDIDATE
I'm just trying to scare Democratic bloggers with that Willie Brown post below. The real Democratic alternative to Gray Davis is obvious, and actually qualified: former state Controller Kathleen Connell, who fits the Kleiman Criteria perfectly. She's run successfully for statewide office, has independent money, has a particular appeal to women without alienating men, and won plaudits for her strong campaign for L.A. mayor, despite a very late start that made winning impossible. Most important, she has a record of fighting with Davis, who clearly hates her already, on the budget. (Here's an example.)
From Jill Stewart's latest column (via Kausfiles, who didn't pick up the Connell angle)
A slightly kinder take comes from Democrat Kathleen Connell, who stepped down as State Controller in January after spending months blasting her fellow Democrats for their unchecked overspending, which Connell says clearly caused California's budget debacle.
Connell was a fiscal toughie who, had Davis listened to her, never would have permitted California to spiral into the reckless "get out alive" budgets Davis and the Democrats keep creating.
"You are going to see eight or so major players behind Gray during this recall, giving directly, or through vendors, or subsidiaries, and they are Haim Saban, Stephen Bing, [grocery magnate] Ron Berkle, [SunAmerica billionaire] Eli Broad and others," says Connell.
"The Democrats would lose their political control," Connell says. "Their greatest fear is if he's thrown out it destroys Democratic solidarity and it would create an opportunity for a Republican to be elected governor."
Some people think Connell's a bitch. But a) Professor Postrel, a former UCLA colleague, disagrees, and I tend to trust him on the issue of strong women b) a truth-telling bitch may be exactly what the state needs right now c) compared to Gray Davis, who by all reports is a really nasty person, the typical bitch looks like a sweetheart. Connell's bio is here.