What labor may like best about Brown: He's not Whitman

[Jefferson23]

Unions are giving the candidate plenty of financial support, even though he has made no commitment to their causes.

Reporting from Sacramento — The television ads seize on the millions of dollars organized labor is spending to help elect Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, warning that if he's victorious, he would be "their governor."

Labor leaders watching the spots, which are funded by billionaire GOP nominee Meg Whitman, should be so lucky.

Unions are indeed reaching deep into their pockets to help Brown, whose campaign needs the cash to compete with Whitman's personal fortune. But how much return they will get on their investment under a Brown governorship is unclear.


The last governor labor helped elect, Democrat Gray Davis, was a reliable champion of its agenda. Under Davis, state worker retirement packages and paychecks were fattened and a labor-backed bill that forced large corporations to provide healthcare for employees was signed into law.

But Brown's main appeal for labor may be that he is not Whitman.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-brown-unions-20100727,0,3152621.story