Love of Politics and Power Keeps Jerry Running

A former governor is trying to make his way back here to take a lesser job. And it’s looking like he’ll succeed.

The question is: Why does he want to?

But, then again, Jerry Brown always has been unconventional. That’s his public appeal.

The current Oakland mayor is running ahead of state Sen. Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno) by a landslide distance, based on polls, in a nasty, little-noticed race for California attorney general.

Disingenuously, the Brown camp is belittling Poochigian as a “career legislator,” taking its cue from the public’s misguided enthusiasm for term limits. The senator has spent 12 years in the Legislature. But that’s an eye-blink compared to Brown’s long career in public office.

Count it up: L.A. Community College board, secretary of state, governor, mayor. Total: 22 years. Plus, two years as state Democratic chairman, a losing U.S. Senate run against Pete Wilson and three splashy bids for president.

Brown is the real, incurable “career politician.” And that’s fine.

But what’s he up to now?

Is he positioning himself to run for governor again in 2010? Brown already has served two terms, 1975-83, and that ordinarily would be his limit. But he was governor before term limits took effect in 1990 and is still good for another eight years.

“No, I don’t want to be governor,” he answered in a telephone interview. “I’ve been there. That’s a tough job for a Democrat. They have a very rocky road.

“The reason is very simple,” Brown added, noting that the last three Democratic governors had Democratic legislatures. “The Legislature starts giving you trouble. They want all this stuff and if you don’t give it to them, they’re mad at you. Then people say you can’t lead your own party. If you do give it to them, then you’re in line for a tax increase and the voters want to get rid of you. So it’s very dicey.

“On the other hand, attorney generals are generally well-respected. That’s because they’re in narrower limits. They’re dealing with what is. This is the law. Governors are dealing with what should be.”

OK, he doesn’t want to be governor again.

Is there still a gleam in his eye for the White House?

“No, no. I’m 68 1/2 here. I have a wonderful wife who I think wants me to pay more attention to her.”

Last year, the onetime Jesuit seminarian, who famously dated singer Linda Ronstadt as governor, married his longtime live-in girlfriend, former Gap clothing executive Anne Gust. It was the first marriage for both.

So why is he running for AG? This is what he says:

“Because I know how the state works. I think I can provide some perspective and some wisdom....

“I believe my whole life has prepared me for this.”

Not just his life in varied public offices, but his upbringing.

His late father, Pat Brown, was an attorney general who got elected governor. So was his dad’s duck-hunting buddy, Earl Warren. “They both loved this job,” Brown recalled.

“I’m just steeped in public service, based on my father’s life,” he continued. “That was the dinner table experience.”

Brown remembers “contentious meetings” in the old governor’s mansion between his dad and legendary Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh that were “just very fascinating.”

“And my father would often bring his briefcase home and when he’d go to bed, I’d read through it, all the different bills and memos. And it’s just something I’m drawn to. I know about this as much as a human being could know.

“I think it’s pretty natural that I’d want to do what I do best and what I know most about.”

Many would consider it a comedown to be attorney general after having been governor. “I don’t think of it that way at all,” Brown asserted. “People said that about running for mayor of Oakland.

“For me, that was an incredible opportunity to learn about how government works at the ground level ... how the bureaucratic process can obstruct thoughtful decisions.”

He now has “a lot more understanding about the problems of a developer, all the different rules and roadblocks,” Brown said.

And what would he focus on as attorney general?

“I’d take a common sense approach” by settling thousands of pending civil lawsuits, he said. “I’d strive to protect the environment. I see myself taking action when corporate abuses show up, like energy company rip-offs. Helping cities fight street crime.”

This sort of talk makes Poochigian laugh out loud and reach for graphs showing that under Brown this year, Oakland’s crime rate has risen, especially homicides.

“If Jerry spent more time in west Oakland instead of on Southwest [Airlines] the city would be better off,” says Poochigian. (I’ll write about him in the future.)

Brown responds that crime is up in many cities. He blames it largely on the rising recidivism rate of released felons who aren’t supervised on probation and didn’t get needed drug counseling, schooling or job training in prison.

Poochigian also has reams of leftist Brown quotes from when he was out of office, mostly when he hosted a Bay Area radio talk show. Relevant to the AG’s office, Brown repeatedly called for banning capital punishment and referred to execution by lethal injection as “Nazi-style.”

“I’m on a talk show,” Brown replied. “It’s part entertainment. It’s provocative.”

But as attorney general, he said, “I pledge unconditionally to discharge my responsibilities to carry out the law.” Would he try to change the death penalty law? “No. This thing has been dealt with going back 30 years.”

Indeed, 30 years ago he was dealing with it as governor. Brown vetoed a bill to reinstate capital punishment. But he didn’t lift a finger to try to block the Legislature from overriding his veto, which it promptly did.

As governor, Brown was as big a star as Arnold Schwarzenegger is today -- and a lot more spontaneous and open. He was futuristic (alternative energy), frugal (never raised general taxes) and had failings (roads began crumbling).

Brown keeps being drawn to political office because it’s in his blood. He’s addicted to the power and the limelight. He’ll likely grab some from the governor and legislative leaders if he gets back to town.

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George Skelton writes Monday and Thursday. Reach him at george.skelton@latimes.com.