Even under optimal circumstances, California is extraordinarily difficult to govern — more like a fractious nation than a culturally homogenous state. Our size and our staggering economic, cultural, ethnic, even geographic and meteorological diversity not only create complex issues but make the reconciliation of often bitterly disparate factions difficult, bordering...
Walters: An Epic Capitol Power Struggle Recalled
Exactly 40 years ago today, a political power struggle erupted in the California Assembly, one that lasted nearly a year and fundamentally altered the Capitol’s culture. Many of today’s legislators weren’t even born when Assemblyman Howard Berman, the majority floor leader, abruptly demanded that Assembly Speaker Leo McCarthy step down...