When political strategist Garry South was preparing to help Gray Davis run for governor in 1998, his friend Phil Trounstine apparently was watching his every move.
South — chief of staff for then lieutenant governor Davis — was obligated by law to take time off the government payroll to work on Davis’ burgeoning gubernatorial campaign.
But South said he unwittingly continued to use his state discount on Southwest Airlines during his time off. That’s when former San Jose Mercury News political editor and commentator Trounstine — who passed away peacefully on Monday in his home in Aptos at age 72 — pounced. Despite their personal relationship, Trounstine had no qualms in asking South about his traveling.
“Phil called me and said, ‘I gotta ask you something, and I’m not trying to ding you here but you’ve been pretty consistently going off payroll, right?’” South recounted. “I said ‘yes, I’ve been traveling more off payroll than on.’ And then he hit me with it: ‘Well, why are you traveling off the state payroll on the state discount rate?’”
South knew in that moment he’d been treated to the Trounstine Special, a unique brand of unwavering journalism and confrontational style from a fierce, hard-hitting and widely-respected member of California political criticism who at that point had covered the state’s messy politics for over two decades.
All I could say was ‘Oh, sh–‘” South said. “Soon enough the story came out and it was embarrassing to all of us.”
“It didn’t matter how close you were with him, how many family picnics you went on or whatever, if he found something he thought was a story he was going to pursue it and it didn’t matter if it was embarrassing,” South added. “He was an incorruptible reporter. It’s a big loss.”
Known for his incisive reporting and unapologetic criticism, Trounstine was a political animal respected and admired around Sacramento and the rest of the state for his deep devotion to journalism and fair political commentary.
As the longtime political editor for the Mercury News for 20 years, onetime communications director for former governor Davis, founder and director of the San Jose State University Poll and co-founder of the California political commentary website Calbuzz, Trounstine was considered one of the top political reporters in California for decades. He dedicated his life to covering the politicians, scandals and power struggles of the nation’s biggest state — an accomplishment many current political leaders say will be sorely missed in today’s California.
“California has lost a strong and clear political voice with the passing of Phil Trounstine,” said Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. “Phil was my neighbor and my friend, but never let that interfere with his obligation to be an objective reporter. He had good instincts, a sharp wit and believed in the power of journalism. My family offers comfort to his during this time of mourning.”
Jerry Roberts, the other co-founder of Calbuzz, said in his obituary to Trounstine that “as a reporter, Phil was a master of what he called the ‘perceptual scoop’ — grasping the big picture meta-angle of hiding-in-plain-sight trends or shifts in the political zeitgeist that no else had yet recognized, explored or explained.”
Roberts said that it was Trounstine who years before “soccer moms” became a thing in political reporting, understood and broke down for readers the critical importance of suburban women voters. He was outraged at the “consequence-free lying of (Meg) Whitman’s campaign for governor in 2010,” and “presciently railed against the ‘death of truth’ in politics.”
“Back in the ‘oughts, he forecast the collapse of the California Republican Party and offered a detailed prescription for how they could come back,” Roberts wrote. “Needless to say, the GOP foolishly ignored his advice.”
Carla Marinucci, former political writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, said in a Tweet that she was “devastated” to learn of Trounstine’s passing, calling him a “great political journalist” and a “fearless reporter, a true scoop machine and mensch.”
“Honored to have worked together and competed for decades back to being student journalists at San Jose State University and the Spartan Daily,” Marinucci said. “As MercNews political editor, Phil broke countless California and national stories (and)… made politicos sweat with their take-no-prisoners style. He’s no doubt up there pressuring God for a one-on-one. Go get ’em buddy.. we will miss you.”
But Trounstine’s accomplishments go beyond journalism too. After Gray Davis’ successful campaign for governor in 1998, Trounstine stepped away from the newsroom to make the news instead of report it, serving as Davis’ communications director for about two years.
South said even as a staffer for Davis, Trounstine and the governor butted heads and had a relationship akin to that of a reporter and his subject, a dynamic that may have helped Davis in the end.
Trounstine was also founder and –until April 2008 — director of the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University, which produced the quarterly Calfiornia Consumer Confidence Survey. Trounstine also was co-publisher and co-editor of Calbuzz.com, one of the most popular websites for California political commentary.
“I’d call Phil one of my most important mentors — and given Phil’s political bent, that mentorship sometimes came in the form of quotes from Chairman Mao,” said Bert Robinson, senior editor for the Bay Area News Group. “I still remember how he urged me to expand my perspective in a career counseling session at the IHOP near his house in San Jose. ‘A frog at the bottom of a well thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well,’ he said. Phil never restricted himself to the narrow view.”
Trounstine is survived by his wife, Debbie Trounstine — a licensed marriage and family therapist — daughter, Jessica Trounstine — a professor of political science at UC Merced — son, David Trounstine and seven grandchildren. He also was step-father to Amy Vegter, Ryan Wilkes and Patrick Wilkes.
Services are pending.