Brown Setting His Sights Past Crumbling Campaign

Amid growing indications that his Democratic presidential candidacy is running out of steam, Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. is increasingly looking beyond the primaries to the national movement he aspires to spearhead after the election.

The latest discouraging news for Brown was a statewide poll in Oregon that shows him slipping well behind Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, the likely nominee. Brown had been expected to do well in the state because of his environmental credentials and its proximity to his home. California’s ex-governor is stumping extensively in Oregon, which has 47 delegates at stake in its primary Tuesday.

The survey of 281 registered Democrats, conducted last week by The Oregonian newspaper and published Saturday, shows Clinton with 46% to Brown’s 25%--a sharp comedown from the newspaper’s April poll, when Brown trailed by 5%. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.9 percentage points.

Brown, stumping in Northern California before returning to Oregon on Sunday, said he was not surprised that he is losing ground amid the more extensive media coverage that Clinton is receiving.

Seeking to put the best light on recent showings, Brown said that winning 20% to 25% of a primary--as he did last week in Nebraska--”is still significant.”

Although Brown emphasized that he still hopes to win primaries in Oregon and in California on June 2, he said that regardless of the results, he will still try to transform his “We the people” campaign into a continuing effort. The agenda would range from closing nuclear power plants and waste incinerators to backing progressive candidates for office.

“We’re going to expose the bankruptcy of today’s politics and change it,” Brown vowed to a enthusiastic crowd of about 1,000 gathered in Mendocino for a Brown rally.

He vowed to oppose future oil drilling along Northern California’s coast and endorsed shifting billions of dollars from defense to create jobs and aid inner cities.

But some critics and ex-colleagues are skeptical that, once the cheering stops, Brown can demonstrate the staying power to accomplish his goals. They contend that his record as governor and as state party chairman shows he is better able to articulate grandiose ideas than to follow them through.

“The problem,” said one former ally, “is that it’s all about Jerry.”

In an interview, Brown spoke in more detail than he has before about the next step in his unorthodox political career. He also acknowledged that he is uncertain that the 100,000 supporters who have contributed to his campaign will help fund a cause that is not tied to the election process.

But he said he hopes to continue to rally community activists, environmentalists and others left out of a political process driven by wealthy campaign contributors.

“All over America, you see the underside that is not represented at the black-tie dinners,” Brown said. “To me, that is the beacon--the unmet agenda of the party and the country.”

Asked about assertions that he is driven in large measure by a need for the limelight, the three-time presidential candidate turned introspective.

“Sometimes it’s hard to know your deeper motives, but something keeps me going,” the normally grim Brown said with the trace of a smile.

“Ego and ambition are a part of what brings people into politics. You can’t deny that. . . . Ego is a major obstacle.”