Who says print journalism is a dead duck? Yes, many newspapers have cut staff and some have cut down the very size of their pages. But one remarkable recent political event demonstrates newspapers still have more clout than any other medium.

That came when former state Assembly Speaker and ex-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown proposed in a newspaper column he had barely begun to write that Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein run for governor.

If she "does get in," Brown wrote, "it's over, at least on the Democratic side. Everybody, and I mean everybody, steps out."

Well, maybe everyone drops out and maybe not. But for sure, Feinstein is the elephant in the living room, the one political figure no one in California wants to run against.

And she should run for governor. Yes, Feinstein has a lot of seniority in the Senate, where she has served since 1992. Yes, she still has work to do there, especially if she becomes chairman of the Intelligence Committee, as appears all but certain.

But isn't it about time California had a real grownup a governor? Someone who knows how to work with politicians from both parties, plus big labor and big business. Someone who knows how to represent a constituency. Someone with nowhere further to go in politics who would be out for the best interests of California's future and little else.

Over the last 30 years, this state has seen the sterile reigns of Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian, whose lack of vision saw to it that almost no improvements to California's lifestyle and infrastructure were even proposed during their tenures. Think about their approach when sitting in a traffic jam or dealing with the water rationing that's likely to come to most parts of the state.

There was also Jerry Brown, whose administration in the late 1970s and early 1980s was full of slogans like "small is beautiful," but accomplished little that has lasted. Add in Gray Davis, who often seemed to cave to whatever special interests wrote him the largest campaign checks.

And then there's been Arnold Schwarzenegger, showman supreme, but a governor who flails aimlessly when legislators don't do precisely as he instructs. He began his term by issuing orders to then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer about what lawsuits to file -- only to discover he had no such authority. More recently, he ordered state Controller John Chiang to cut the pay of many thousands of state workers during the annual budget wrangling, only to discover that Chiang was independently elected, is not one of his slavish appointees and didn't have to obey.

Image has counted for more than substance from the start of Schwarzenegger's tenure, and polls indicate the hype is wearing thin.

But Feinstein as governor -- a job she sought unsuccessfully in 1990 -- might change all that.

She has vision. No one in California has fought harder for solutions to the state's longstanding water problems. No one in the Senate has done more to try to preserve civil liberties. No one has a better grasp of California's problems and what to do about them.

Would Feinstein like the job? Well, she wanted it once before. She will be 77 on Election Day 2010, so it's unlikely that she would use the office as a stepping stone to anything else. At that age, all the red-eye flights to Washington, D.C. that go with being a senator from California can't be much fun.

Meanwhile, other candidates both Democratic and Republican have not provided much vision. Brown wants to be governor again. But he has yet to articulate why in any coherent manner. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, who also has an excellent grasp of the state's problems and potential solutions, has never demonstrated much ability to work with Republicans. Beyond simple ambition, neither Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa nor San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has expressed a good reason for running. Nor has state Schools Supt. Jack O'Connell. Defeated 2006 Democratic candidate Phil Angelides has talked about why he still wants the job -- things like taking better care of the environment, consumer interests and the poor. But he has long been charismatically challenged. The same for Steve Westly, the former state controller Angelides beat in the primary three years ago.

Then there are the Republicans. Tom Campbell, their current poll leader, is a former congressman who has run statewide twice and failed miserably both times. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner hasn't yet demonstrated he can work with Democrats who control the Legislature any better than Schwarzenegger. And dot.com plutocrats like Meg Whitman (ex-chief of eBay) and Carly Fiorina (deposed head of Hewlett Packard) have yet to offer much explanation of why they want to run.

Without Feinstein, then, it's a large field that would surely produce an interesting campaign season. But Feinstein towers over them all in both achievement and popularity. She should run, for the good of California.

Thomas D. Elias is a syndicated columnist on California issues.

(Nov. 25, 2008)