Brown Tries to Put Best Face on Defeat

Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. sat through initial returns from Tuesday’s Pennsylvania presidential primary, clearly disappointed but determined to keep campaigning--and to keep protesting the effects of money on politics.

His loss to Democratic front-runner Bill Clinton, if anything, seemed to galvanize his criticism. Brown, who has refused to accept any contribution larger than $100, accused Clinton and President Bush of prostituting the political process.

Brown took note of Bush’s posh Washington fund-raiser Tuesday night, which raised a record $9 million, and of Clinton’s multiple fund-raisers during the day.

“The whole game now in politics is sell and buy,” Brown said at a subdued rally at a union hall here. “The politicians sell, and the top 1% buy, and the people suffer.”

Brown chided his rivals for offering big-ticket contributors the opportunity to spend time with them and their top associates.

He said Clinton invited big contributors to ride with him as he motored to campaign stops from the airport. “Can you imagine Thomas Jefferson offering to let big contributors ride in his carriage?” he asked. “No, you cannot.”

Federal election laws prohibit individuals from contributing more than $1,000 per election to any one candidate and more than $20,000 a year to parties that earmark it for individual campaigns. But there are no limits on the amount an individual can give to the political parties for such activities as voter registration and some political advertising.

The former California governor pulled out of Pennsylvania a few hours after the polls opened to campaign for votes in the Indiana primary on May 5. And from South Bend to Ft. Wayne to Indianapolis, he found enthusiastic crowds.

Confronted with the Pennsylvania projections at a news conference in Indianapolis, Brown tried to put the best face on his performance.

He called the results--in which he lost by roughly a 2-to-1 margin--”amazing” considering that he is running as an outsider. He termed Pennsylvania “our second biggest triumph” after Connecticut--where he achieved a surprising upset on March 24.

Underneath, however, the mood within the Brown campaign was somber.

But late Tuesday, his determination remained. “We keep going--we stay here until the final gavel, and even beyond,” Brown told reporters before returning to his hotel to rest before campaigning in Nebraska today.

“We are going to be the conscience of the party,” he said.

Brown also is planning trips this week to Illinois and North Carolina before returning to Indiana.