California is in bad shape. The economy is holding steady at “catastrophic” and the unemployment rate in September was 12 percent, up from 7.8 percent in October of 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has done little to ease our worries, and many argue that he has only made things worse.

According to Christian Science Monitor, Schwarzenegger’s approval rating is down to 27 percent, his lowest during his tenure as governor and the second lowest for a California governor in 50 years.

Luckily for California, he has termed out and cannot run again; though, he likely would not want the job if he was given the option.

The Democratic Party currently has only one candidate to offer in the early stages of campaigning after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped out of the gubernatorial race Oct. 30, due to low voter support and dwindling funds.

The only remaining candidate is a familiar face to California and the office of governor. But some people have a problem with this face because it is old and wrinkled.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, 71, is the last man standing on the side of democrats.

Illustration by Jon Harguindeguy/For the Daily Titan

Early polls indicate that he would receive more support from voters than Newsom, even in Newsom’s home of San Francisco.

Willie Brown, a former mayor of San Francisco, stated in his column in the San Francisco Chronicle that many democratic voters will soon be asking, “Can’t we find someone with a newer paint job?”

This kind of discrimination over age appears to be an issue even though it should not be. Experience and record are now the primary concerns of voters and the former Bay Area mayor should not be pointing to Brown’s age as a negative.

Things have changed since the 2003 recall election, when the state ignored the two politicians running for office and elected Schwarzenegger over less popular actors, watermelon-smashing comedians, porn stars and a number of average Joes who happened to have $3,500 to spare for the entry fee. California has learned a hard lesson and hopefully the error of its ways.

Brown has been an active member of the California political scene since he left the governor’s office in 1982. He ran for president in 1992 against former President Bill Clinton and lost to him in the primaries.

Brown returned to California and was elected mayor of Oakland in 1998 and California Attorney General in 2006. That is a lot of experience, something California desperately needs.

Brown is not a candidate to be ignored like a grandparent stuffed into an assisted living home; he should be looked to as a wise elder who has advice and can make sound decisions.