SACRAMENTO — The defeat of Rep. Howard Berman last fall marked the end of an era in California politics.
Berman, a former state Assemblyman who lost a bitter fight for the speakership in 1980, went on to serve the San Fernando Valley for three decades in Congress. During that time, he and fellow Rep. Henry Waxman built a network of political allies that came to be known as the Waxman-Berman machine.
The National Journal’s Shane Goldmacher takes a look at the powerful political alliance and this history of the two men’s friendship.
“A Waxman-Berman blessing could make a political career. The two dished out campaign cash, forged alliances, drew districts for friends (and themselves), and developed microtargeting techniques before a word for it even existed.”
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