Hillary Clinton might have sealed the deal for the Democratic nomination on Tuesday thanks in part to an old foe.
With the California primary looming next week, Gov. Jerry Brown offered his endorsement of Clinton over Bernie Sanders on Tuesday.
“On Tuesday, June 7, I have decided to cast my vote for Hillary Clinton because I believe this is the only path forward to win the presidency and stop the dangerous candidacy of Donald Trump,” Brown wrote in an “Open Letter to California Democrats and Independents” posted on his website."I have closely watched the primaries and am deeply impressed with how well Bernie Sanders has done. He has driven home the message that the top one percent has unfairly captured way too much of America’s wealth, leaving the majority of people far behind. In 1992, I attempted a similar campaign.”
Brown’s 1992 campaign was his third and last try at the Democratic presidential nomination. During that campaign, as he emerged as the leading alternative to Bill Clinton, Brown was sharply critical of Hillary Clinton, insisting the Arkansas governor was sending taxpayer dollars to the Rose Law Firm where his wife worked. The feud intensified to the extent that the Democratic frontrunner fired back at Brown during a debate.
“I don’t care what you say about me but you ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife,” Bill Clinton told Brown in that debate. “You’re not worth being on the same platform as my wife.”
While Brown pulled off a few upsets, Clinton was able to hold on and win the Democratic nomination, even beating his foe in his home turf of California. Brown was something of a critic of Clinton during the 1990s but, as his political career revived after serving as mayor of Oakland and as state attorney general, they grew closer. When Brown ran for governor in 2010, almost thirty years after he served two terms as governor in Sacramento, he had the backing of the Clintons.
Brown returned the support on Tuesday. He and the former president met last week.
“For her part, Hillary Clinton has convincingly made the case that she knows how to get things done and has the tenacity and skill to advance the Democratic agenda,” Brown wrote. “Voters have responded by giving her approximately 3 million more votes – and hundreds more delegates – than Sanders. If Clinton were to win only 10 percent of the remaining delegates – wildly improbable – she would still exceed the number needed for the nomination. In other words, Clinton’s lead is insurmountable and Democrats have shown – by millions of votes – that they want her as their nominee.
“But there is more at stake than mere numbers,” Brown added. “The Republican nominee, Donald Trump, has called climate change a ‘hoax’ and said he will tear up the Paris Climate Agreement. He has promised to deport millions of immigrants and ominously suggested that other countries may need the nuclear bomb. He has also pledged to pack the Supreme Court with only those who please the extreme right.
“The stakes couldn’t be higher,”Brown continued. “Our country faces an existential threat from climate change and the spread of nuclear weapons. A new cold war is on the horizon. This is no time for Democrats to keep fighting each other. The general election has already begun. Hillary Clinton, with her long experience, especially as Secretary of State, has a firm grasp of the issues and will be prepared to lead our country on day one.
“Next January, I want to be sure that it is Hillary Clinton who takes the oath of office, not Donald Trump,” Brown wrote in closing.
Polls are showing a wide array of possibilities for next week’s California primary. A poll from the Hoover Institution shows Clinton leading 51 percent to 38 percent but one released by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) last week showed her ahead 46 percent to 44 percent.
