Experts Expound

Regarding California’s prison system: There is a special session of the
Legislature, the governor’s own expert has disavowed his proposals, the
governor has attacked the findings of the federal court’s special master and
Phil Angelides has offered his own plan. How does all this play out in the
race for governor?

The governor has quieted yet another union–perhaps pandering, but effective
nonetheless.

It doesn’t sing to the voters, so its impact will be virtually non-existent.
Unless the treasurer can make it part of a broader theme about the
governor’s inability to manage and lead the state, nothing is going to knock
the tax issue off the tops of most voter lists.

Can you spell C-C-P-O-A? Where will it put its members’ money? It may not
play in the governor’s race at all, preferring to spend on legislative
races.

As for the issue of prison reform, it may be the elephant in the room for
any governor, but it isn’t a bread-and-butter thingy for voters. Yeah,
voters know it’s important. Yeah, voters know it’s a mess. But for most,
prison reform is about “them.” It’s not about “us.”