Brownell, Gordon: Respect for Moscone

Gordon Brownell: I only read about Lyndon Johnson as the Senate Majority Leader in the United State Senate, but I observed George Moscone as the Democratic Leader in the State Senate his last few years there. George commanded the respect of his colleagues because of the person that he was. He was trusted. He never threatened any member of the Senate Democratic Caucus if they weren’t gonna support the marijuana bill. He sat down with them and he told them it was important to him, it was the right thing to do, and he needed their vote and he wanted their vote. He just sat across the table from them and said “I need you vote and I want your vote.” His colleagues reacted to that in a way. I think he had almost a magical connection with some of them that was intrinsic to who he was as a person. I was never present where he threatened anyone or where he made anyone promise to vote for it. He just made it very clear that it was very important to him. It was very important to millions of people in California, and he wanted their vote. I think he was genuinely liked and respected by his colleagues. I never heard a bad thing said about George Moscone in the years that I was working as a lobbyist on that issue