In his weekly column for the San Francisco Chronicle, Willie Brown - who recently spoke at UC Merced - said he championed UC Merced in its planning stages several years ago, but would never have voted for it if he had known it was "three hours from anywhere."
Brown also admits his motivation to support a UC in the Central Valley: "I knew that if I ever pulled it off, it would make me bigger than the head of the National Rifle Association with the people down there," he wrote.
Brown does mention in the short column that he is impressed with the recent "Dear Michelle" campaign.
