Jerry vs. Gavin: The Sacto Party Smackdown
Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom each invited hundreds of their closest friends to a big party last night to promote his Democratic primary campaign for governor. The people, places and performances by each politician spoke volumes about the approach each candidate is taking. Here’s the Calbuzz tale of the tape:
Event: JB- outdoor reception GN – block party concert with loud music
Location: JB – Historic governor’s mansion GN – Sacramento’s Lavender District
Crowd : JB- 800+ middle-age voters GN – 2,000+ 18-30-year-old rap fans
Music: JB – recession reception playlist GN – Wyclef Jean, Butterscotch
Activity: JB – Mansion tours and schmooze with Jerry GN – Dance your ass off to throbbing sounds
Drinks: JB – Free beer GN – Cosmopolitans, martinis at cash bar
Backdrop: JB – Jerry’s 1974 Plymouth GN – Badlands, Faces, The Depot and Head Hunters
Ally on hand: JB – Wife Anne Gust Brown GN – Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson
Cost of event: JB – Pretty cheap GN – Really expensive
Crowd attire: JB – Political buttons and blazers GN – Black hoodies and cocktail dresses
Some outtakes:
Gavin met with bloggers in the afternoon and bragged that his announcement came when he “pushed the button” to 300,000 online fans and followers . . . said it’s not about old versus young 
but attacking the status quo . . . also said he can’t support Props 1 C, D and E . . . He was way late getting to the party in his honor. . . Calbuzz could barely see the guy and he gave no political speech at all.
Jerry scoffed at Gavin’s Twitter boast: “You can’t solve the problems of California by Twitter”* . . .
said he would live in the historic mansion if he were elected governor . . . recalled living there when his dad was governor: “I had a small room on the second floor. This time I’ll take the big one.” . . . Calbuzz learned late Saturday that JB is staying in his old apartment on N St. during the convention.
* That’s the short verion. Long Jesuitical version: “You can’t solve the problems of California by Twitter. To state the proposition is to refute it. What is the proposition? That you can solve the problems of California by Twitter.”
P.S. Here’s Brown’s 1974 Plymouth which he didn’t know would be there
HURRAY and BRAVOS to the CalBuzzers! JB is correct and GN dead wrong. GOD help us if the “kids” – as in 20-somethings – run a real government. Wans’t their a novel in the 60s or 70s which warneded us of such untiddiness? And wasn’t the setting quaintly British at that time?
I could get 2000 people into that little space for the Wyclef Jean concert.
In stacked coffins … 🙂
Bread and Circuses. That is all that Gavin Newsome has to offer. He can’t talk about the real issues on a level that other candidates can so he tries to seem “cool”. Being “cool” won’t save California. Being “cool” won’t fix the real problems afflicting this state. He can distract all he wants with these theatrics, but the people of California want a real leader; not some Broadway leading man.
JB NO NOTES..GN PREPARED WRITTEN SPEECH…SAYS IT ALL