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The Californian: Jerry Brown stumps in Salinas as hundreds rally
11/02/2010

  

Jerry Brown stumps in Salinas as hundreds rally

        
BY LESLIE GRIFFY • lgriffy@thecalifornian.com

Nearly the entire Democratic Party slate barnstormed through Salinas on Monday, making their final pitch to voters before polls open this morning. Also Monday, Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) brought his own re-election bid to Salinas. At Democrat gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown's rally at the National Steinbeck Center on Monday afternoon, more than 200 people packed the ballroom as a who's who of local and state Democrats pushed the get-out-the-vote plan.

The stage included attorney general candidate Kamala Harris, California state Senate president Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), insurance commissioner candidate Dave Jones and State Board of Equalization incumbent Betty Yee, touting the party's vision and telling the crowd that this election matters.

"Get your enemies to vote," joked state Senate candidate Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, "as long as they're Democrats."

"We have to push until 8:05 [p.m.] tomorrow," Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, said. "We can sleep on Wednesday."

By the time the final speaker, Brown, hit the stage, the crowd of supporters and union members were revved up. They had already welcomed state Controller John Chiang like a rock star.

Brown spoke of his record fighting crime in Salinas as attorney general, joked about his age, talked up his plan to create green jobs and his support for a California Dream Act, which would allow immigrants to attend state universities.

"Anyone who's got skill and motivation should go to college," Brown said, "and we are going to make room for them."

A handful of Republican activists also showed up at Brown's rally. Dressed as a "shining knight for truth" and "the grim reaper of jobs," they chanted "Brown lies."

"I want a job when I graduate from college," said California State University, Monterey Bay student Laura Benitez. "[Brown] is going to raise taxes and that is going to send jobs away."

Meanwhile, a counter-counter protest sprung up at the steps of the center, with one man taking up a microphone to warn that Whitman's plan to cut the state budget would slash the jobs of teachers and firefighters.

Republicans Carly Fiorina, candidate for U.S. Senate, and Meg Whitman, who is running for governor, were both in town last week.