With the name recognition he has in California and the seeming desire by a majority of state voters to not face the hard problems of excess deficit spending, it’s tough to see why Brown would need ACORN — or at least, need the baggage ACORN would bring — in the 2010 primary and general election. His personality is pretty much set in the public’s mind as a ‘quirky liberal’, so if he actually follows through on Langstein’s claim that just strips away whatever appearance of difference Jerry has with every other liberal-Democrat in Sacremento or elsewhere in the state.

He can throw ACORN under the bus at least for the current election cycle and not worry about needing their extra help for turnout because Brown brings his own celebrity into play to juice the turnout. So he may be dumb enough to taint his image by going after O’Keefe and Giles, but I’d be surprised if he throws his own reputation overboard to make David Langstein look prophetic.