He fought for the powerless, the way politicians should

John Burton spent decades shaping California policy to help the overlooked.

- GEORGE SKELTON

John Burton was the unique sort of political leader we need much more of in today’s hate-spewing politics.

First, he dedicated his life to fighting for a cause that earned him only personal satisfaction and absolutely no political gain: the powerless poor, particularly the aged, blind and disabled.

These aren't folks with any money to donate to political coffers. They’re not members of unions harboring large piles of campaign cash. They don’t volunteer to walk precincts before elections. Many can barely walk. They're not organized.

More likely they live lonely lives. And they never heard of John Burton.

Burton —and only Burton—had these people’s backs in Sacramento's halls of power for many years. And no one has taken his place.

Second, this bleeding-heart San Francisco liberal instinctively liked and befriended many political opposites with whom he developed working relationships to achieve his and their goals.

He'd loudly denounce their conservative positions on issues but not them personally —in contrast to today’s ugly, click-driven, opportunistic American politics.

Right-wingers? “I never held that against anybody,” Burton writes in his recently released autobiography, “I Yell Because I Care: The Passion and Politics of John Burton, California's Liberal Warrior." "Like, you never know when you might need a right-winger for something.