Putting Out Missing "Dangling Element" Fires

George Skelton in his Capitol Journal column in the Los Angeles Times emphasized the value of governors consoling their constituents in a purely human capacity after such disasters as the recent Southern California fires. Skelton, who has covered Sacramento politics for decades, evaluated some past performances:

Arnold Schwarzenegger "does well at the hand-holding." Pete Wilson, "normally awkward, exhibited strong leadership after the 1994 Northridge earthquake." "George Deukmejian appeared aloof, his natural personality." Skelton describes Edmund G. Pat Brown's performance after the terrible North Coast flood of the 1960's as "an all-time verbal fumble" when the former governor stated: "This is the worst disaster since I was elected governor." To the ear, at least, he did himself no favors.

The late governor Brown, father of Jerry Brown, current California State Attorney General and also former governor, provided a text book example of a "Dangling Elliptical Clause." (An elliptical clause is a dependent clause with an implied subject and verb. The implied subject is assumed to be the subject of the sentence. Improving Composition, Carol Compton, Educators Publishing Service).

In Brown's sentence, the dependent clause is "since I was elected governor." The implied subject and verb are: My election as governor is the worst disaster. To fix dangling elements add necessary elements and/or rearrange the syntax of a sentence (the word order). Brown might have said: "In my time as governor, this flood is the worst natural disaster we have faced."