Will Jerry Brown Behave Himself and Join the Party for Clinton? : Convention: What the state delegation has added in numbers has not been matched by a gain in clout. But it still can be rebellious.

Miami. July, 1972. At the Democratic National Convention, California Assemblyman Willie Brown delivers an impassioned plea: “Give me back my delegation!”

New York City. July, 1992. As Democrats convene to nominate Bill Clinton as their presidential candidate, the cry heard ‘round the state delegation is: “What’s Jerry Brown up to now?”

California’s role--and clout--in Democratic convention politics have certainly changed in 20 years.

In 1972, supporters of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey attempted to block the seating of 151 of the 271 delegates Sen. George S. McGovern had won in California’s last “winner-take-all” primary. The Humphrey forces failed, solidifying McGovern’s hold on the nomination and the party machinery.

The California McGovern delegation went on to help break the back of the Democratic Establishment in presidential politics. It was the last time the state really made a difference.

Today, the 406-member California delegation is the largest. Californians will appear at the podium throughout the convention. U.S. Senate candidates Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein will be courted and paraded all over Manhattan and before the media. But the bottom line is, most of the important deals have been cut--with the California delegation not in the room.

To be sure, no state delegation to the ’92 convention has the power to determine political fate. Media, pundits and voters grumble that such gatherings are outmoded, since primaries decide who the presidential nominee will be. With “tele-democracy” the political communication of choice this campaign, nominating conventions might as well be replaced by interactive, call-in shows, with Larry King at the mike. Among those we have to thank, or blame, for making this thinkable is Edmund G. Brown Jr.

In the end, Brown’s presidential candidacy offered voters the right message but the wrong messenger. No one, however, can deny his impact on this year’s presidential campaign.

Early on, Brown tapped into voter alienation and frustration. He defined some of the campaign issues--political reform, accountability in government, change, the role of the “outsider.”

Brown also pioneered the techniques and technologies of this year’s campaign. His was the first “Candidate Home Shopping Network.” Now, 800-numbers and talk-show appearances are standard campaign ordnance.

But none of this has much to do with convention politics. As one observer put it, “Jerry Brown is no Jesse Jackson.”

Brown doesn’t have the delegate votes, the campaign organization or the personal popularity to threaten Clinton on the convention floor. He doesn’t even control his home-state delegation. Because he won the primary, Clinton has 191 delegates, compared with Brown’s 157.

But how Brown handles his delegates--and uses them--will provide some clues on how he views his political future and how he intends to act it out. This could affect Clinton in the fall.

Does Brown, for example, see his future inside the Democratic Party? Will he accommodate Clinton and his platform? At a convention that promises little real news, the media will likely rush to fill any news hole with rumblings of a Brown-Clinton feud.

Brown’s pre-convention rhetoric has ranged from coy to confrontational. Plans are to place his name in nomination. He has gone out of his way to criticize the Democratic platform as “gooey mush” and brandish his political “humility agenda. Jerry Brown? Humility ?

California delegations are, by nature and tradition, rebellious, cantankerous and seldom happy with the status quo. Luckily for Clinton, he has enough Californians around him who understand this and can guide him through this strange political thicket. And Brown’s California contingent--25% of his total delegate strength--has been described as “more pragmatic than Brown delegates from other states.” That could prove important to party unity.

One Brown leader said, “I can’t say that all Brown delegates are pragmatic enough to rally ‘round Clinton in the end.” But, he added, California Brownies could be helpful by “balancing their perspective.”

How Clinton handles Brown and his delegates, particularly the large California bloc, will affect his presidential prospects in what may remain a quirky, three-way race for the White House. California, an economic and demographic microcosm of the nation, is the state Clinton has to have to win. The California delegation, the most diverse at the convention, provides Clinton with a testing ground for his campaign themes and strategies. If he can’t unite it and integrate its contingent of Brown supporters into the state’s planned “coordinated campaign,” how can he hope to hold the Democratic coalition nationwide? Or to reach out to the critical, moderate middle?

Clinton could woo Brown supporters by using Brown as the Democrats’ Ross Perot, a sort of heat-seeking missile for liberals, young voters and disaffected Democrats who are now parked somewhere between Clinton and Perot. Or Brown’s criticism from the left could allow Clinton to highlight his shift from orthodox liberalism to a more moderate “third way.”

So, what about Brown?

If nothing else works out, Brown can join his long-time supporter and fellow Californian Milan Panic, the newly designated prime minister of Yugoslavia. As one Democratic Party insider gleefully suggested, “Maybe Panic could appoint Jerry chief of the Yugoslav police.”