Brown Delivers a Fiery Speech to Union : Politics: Former California governor, in presidential exploration, links Bush to nation’s drug problems. He calls political system corrupt in Las Vegas oration.

Former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. came out firing Thursday in his first speech since announcing that he is exploring a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In a lectern-pounding address to a union convention here, Brown denounced the political system as “corrupt” and accused President Bush of complicity in the nation’s drug problems.

“Crack was invented under Reagan and Bush,” Brown told 2,100 delegates at the Laborers’ International Union convention. “They deregulated cocaine; that was their supply-side economics. Now every kid in America can buy the stuff.”

“You think that’s a cheap shot?” Brown added. “Well in some ways it is. But explain to me how come Bush and (deposed Panama dictator) Manuel Noriega were on the same payroll for so long.”

Brown was apparently referring to revelations that the Central Intelligence Agency had at one time used Noriega, now on trial on federal drug charges in Miami, as a paid informant.

Asked after his speech whether he meant to accuse the President of deliberately increasing the availability of cocaine through “deregulation,” Brown said: “That’s a way of emphasizing the connection of breaking down regulations in a variety of areas. But I do say the financial assistance to Noriega was certainly part of the drug epidemic in America and that was a conscious policy of (former President) Reagan and Bush.”

Most of Brown’s speech centered on a biting bipartisan attack that accused both parties of abandoning the interests of working people to pursue campaign contributions from the wealthy and special interests. “The way you have to campaign in this country is you have to beg for money from the very people who need to be brought under control: that’s the top 1% (of earners), the corporate raiders and deregulators,” Brown said.

Occasionally wiping away a wayward lock of hair that sagged over his forehead, Brown did his best to transform the podium in the cavernous ballroom of Bally’s Hotel here into a pulpit. He presented himself as a repentant sinner who had learned the power fund-raisers hold over politicians through bitter personal experience: “When I point the finger, I point it right here,” Brown declared, jabbing at his chest.

Brown preached his gospel of campaign finance reform to a congregation that had also strayed from the path. In the last election, the laborers’ union’s political action committee dispersed more than $1.4 million to congressional candidates, ranking it among organized labor’s most active. In addition, the laborers’ union was identified in a 1986 report by the President’s Commission on Organized Crime as one of four unions allegedly influenced by the mob.

Asked after the speech if he considered his hosts part of the money-in-politics problem, Brown said: “We’re all part of the problem. But the only way to change it is to awaken the commitment in each individual.”

Though he would never be called a lunch-bucket Democrat, Brown clearly touched a chord with his blue-collar audience--which probably didn’t include a single Volvo owner or vegetarian. “He fired people up,” said Fred Risius, a delegate from Iowa. “He says everyone’s got their hands out and he’s right.” After a somewhat indifferent start, Brown won considerable applause at the end of his speech.

Brown repeated his intention to design “not a campaign but a cause” if he formally announces for the presidency. But other than his pledge to accept no contributions greater than $100, he has not yet offered any specifics on what such a campaign would look like. In appealing for support from a powerful labor union, Brown was not carving a new path for Democratic presidential candidates, but rather following a well-worn one.

In other respects, his speech Thursday also echoed traditional Democratic themes: Brown criticized the proposed Free Trade Agreement with Mexico, raised concerns about foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, and urged that federal defense and foreign aid spending be diverted to domestic needs.

Meanwhile, the suddenly expanding supply of Democratic presidential candidates showed signs of increasing again. After a group of freshman representatives urged him to run in a meeting Wednesday, Oklahoma Rep. Dave McCurdy, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he intended to travel to several states to the explore a possible candidacy. Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder said that he would announce his decision on whether to run today.