Brown Gets NOW Endorsement

California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown announced he’s been endorsed by the National Organization for Women, less than a day after a tape of a phone call featured a staffer—or perhaps Brown himself—referring to opponent Meg Whitman as a “whore.” Whitman decried the tape, saying it was an insult to her and California women, and then said NOW’s endorsement merely proves the women’s group is a partisan organization. Brown had called the Los Angeles Police Protective League and asked for an endorsement by voice mail, but before hanging up the phone, he can be heard asking staff if he should put out an ad saying she cut a secret deal with police unions to not cut their retirement package, exempting them from her plan to give government workers 401(k)s instead of pensions. An unidentified male can be heard asking, “What about saying she’s a whore?” In that context, seemingly every pol falls under that admittedly rude description.