SAN FRANCISCO, California — Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown is not one to mince words. In an interview with Breitbart News at the Commonwealth Club this week, he discussed the 2016 presidential races and said that Gov. Jerry Brown is, in his view, the “best potential Democratic nominee” for president.
He also predicted a stunning loss for the Democrats should Hillary Rodham Clinton not be the party’s nominee, however. While Gov. Jerry Brown might be the best candidate, Hillary Clinton is the only secure political win, in Willie Brown’s view.
Brown was dressed as sharply as his reputation preceded him wearing a powder blue, Kiton sportcoat, grey dress pants, navy blue suede Christian Louboutin ankle boots and lime green beetle cufflinks to offset the yellow and blue polkadot tie and matching pocket square tucked neatly inside his breast pocket.
And then, his prediction:
I think Democrats will lose in 2016 if it isn’t Hillary Clinton at the head of the ticket. The Democrats’ only chance is to make it “the year of the woman” and it wouldn’t surprise me if there is a complete woman’s ticket.
After all, if you go back and look at the history of this nation, there have only been two occasions where one political party has held the presidency more than two consecutive times and that was with Roosevelt and Reagan.
He suggested that in order for Democrats to secure the 2016 presidential elections they must do “something unusual” and that a woman-versus-man race may very well be the answer. (So far the only promising female Republican candidate to announce has been former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina who, unlike Hillary, has been open and enthusiastic about answering questions from the media.)
Despite saying Gov. Brown would be the best choice for the Democrats, when pressed about whether or not California’s longest serving governor would in fact throw his hat into the race for the presidency, Willie Brown said, “No. He won’t jump in. Jerry Brown is smart enough to know that Hillary’s vote is going to be absolutely necessary to win the presidency for a Democrat. Just as President Barack Obama understood Hillary’s vote was necessary.”
Willie said it was in fact, mayors, that do the work in the world of politics. “Not governors, not senators, not the president. It’s mayors.” Gov. Brown had served as the 47th Mayor of Oakland between 1999-2007.
Using hindsight, Willie Brown said that without Hillary’s support and backing for him, Barack Obama would not have made it to the presidency. “In particular because simultaneously the Republicans did their number [on the Democrats] with their female vice presidential candidate [Sarah Palin].”
It was Hillary’s interviewing skills that got her into trouble then. And Brown said there hasn’t been much of a change in that department now, which has been made increasingly apparent with Hillary’s explicit attempts to avoid the press.
“Hillary Clinton does not come off well in interviews. And her management team is doing just an excellent job. She’s pissing off the press but she is getting aeons of positive responses in the small meetings,” he said.
Brown would go on to see her that evening after his annual lecture on political trends following his interview with Breitbart News. “She’s got three or four [meetings] here in San Francisco today. And believe me, you will never see her if they find out you know anything about journalism.”
Last month, Willie Brown warned that allegations of corruption in the new book Clinton Cash could be “fatal” to Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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