A few months ago I made a case for current CA Secretary of State Debra Bowen to be Governor of CA.
Much interesting discussion came out of that, and a fair bit of support for Bowen.
The Draft Debra Bowen for Governor of CA website is now up at draftbowen.org - we'd like to get as many signups at the site as possible. Also as part of that effort, please join the "Draft Debra Bowen for Governor" Facebook group.
Just to give you an idea of where this is going - we'd like to help prove that Bowen would have strong support if she were to run, so sign up at the site to pledge your support for Bowen's candidacy. And please tell your friends and family to join this group and visit the site.
In the coming weeks we'll start updating the website with information on the number of signups. Our first goal is to have 1000 Facebook group members and website signups by April 15.
Also, a brief reminder of why we should consider Debra Bowen for Governor:
Bowen was one of the first legislators in the world to understand how technology can transform our government. (We need no further proof than the fact that this is posted at DKos.) Starting in 1993 - before many folks had a computer, let alone Internet access - she pushed to put state legislation online and open up campaign finance records. She's fought for consumer and environmental protections in the state legislature. Her husband does climate science policy work for the U.S. Forest Service.
(I don't want to use the word "progressive" because it has been used by some in this community as a word to divide Democrats, and I don't like that. But I think it probably applies to Bowen.)
In their endorsement of her for Secretary of State, the SF Chronicle praised Bowen's ability to get things done:
Beyond that, Bowen has proved to be one of the most focused and effective representatives in the 120-member Legislature, especially on consumer and privacy protection. She takes on tough issues, stays with them and gets results.
One of her boldest demonstrations of leadership was the California "top to bottom review" of voting systems. As we all know, many popular electronic voting systems are fundamentally flawed. Unfortunately, many of the results came from the outside, and were both narrow and not taken seriously within government. Bowen commissioned a study of California's voting machines to be conducted by actual computer security experts (led by two highly respected University of California computer science professors). When she began this study, there was plenty of braying from the usual quarters about how it was paranoia to worry about broken electronic voting machines and how counties should keep using broken machines since they had already overpaid for them.
The results were both groundbreaking and what we would expect - all three electronic voting systems in California were fatally flawed (a single voter could create a virus to compromise an entire state-wide election, among other problems). Bowen decertified all the machines and returned us to optical-scan paper ballots, and has led other secretaries of state across the nation to re-examine their voting systems. She was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for her work on voting reform.
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At this point you're probably where I was - "OK, Bowen seems good, but do I really care? But is she the right person for the job - does she have that intangible quality we look for in our leaders?"
I was convinced that she had the ability to think complex issues through and find the right solutions after listening to her talk and Q&A session at Usenix Security - a computer security conference - discussing voting security. I encourage you to listen to her 80 minute talk here. (It was highly educational too - she explains all the important, and sometimes quite technical, issues in voting security with great clarity.) Dare I say it, I haven't been this interested and even surprised by a potential candidate since I first heard Barack Obama speak in low-profile interviews a few years ago. (This is not to say that they are similar in style, because they clearly are not.) Also, and this is completely an afterthought, Bowen would become California's first female governor.
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I think that there's a strong argument to be made that she should run for Governor rather than for a Senate seat:
She has demonstrated her management skills as Secretary of State - she seeks the input of those with expertise and then makes sound judgments based upon facts, not ideology. Her deep understanding of public policy from her years as a legislator will allow her to better steer Sacramento out of troubled waters as Governor rather than try to steer the US Senate as 1 out of 100.
If she were to run for Feinstein's senate seat, she would enter that body as a junior member; it would take years for her to be able to make a huge impact. (And for those who believe that Bowen has a bright future, perhaps even as a presidential contender some day - the Senate is an unlikely launching pad, and only 3 sitting senators - Harding, Kennedy, and Obama - have been elected president.)
If you'd like to see Debra Bowen as Governor, please join the Draft Debra Bowen for Governor Facebook group
.