By Steven T. Jones
As the year winds down, I’d like to note what I consider to be the most politically courageous act of 2008: Attorney General Jerry Brown’s decision to reverse his position and urge the California Supreme Court to overturn Prop. 8.
This was a deeply principled decision that went against Brown’s political self-interest considering the fact that he’s planning to run governor in a state where a majority has approved Prop. 8. And that political danger was exacerbated by Brown’s post-election statement saying he would defend Prop. 8, as attorneys general are generally required to do, opening him up to the dreaded flip-flopper label.
But his new position is consistent with important constitutional principles (as I outlined in the Guardian almost a month before Brown adopted his new stance) and well-worth taking a gamble to do what’s right, the kind of act that is all too rare in modern American politics.
We’ve seen lots of different Jerry Browns through the years, from Governor Moonbeam to the We The People presidential populist to the tough-on-criminals, easy-on-developers Oakland mayor. Perhaps this act heralds Jerry Brown as the kind of governor California desperately needs right now: someone willing to tell the people “no,” that we can’t have everything we want, that some sacrifice and selflessness and tolerance are needed, that this nation was founded on principles more important than majority rule.