Jerry Brown - Meg Whitman debate: Brokaw on crutches -- 'a metaphor for California'?

NBC's Tom Brokaw, the debate moderator, arrived on stage Tuesday on crutches. And he offered an explanation to the audience before the debate began.

"It's kind of a metaphor for California. We're both broken for the moment," he said of his hobbled state.

Then he delivered the laugh line: "The difference is, I hope to be repaired by the first of the year."

The debate between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown about how they hope to fix California is about to begin.

-- Shane Goldmacher in San Rafael, Calif.

Photo credit: Robert Galbraith / Reuters