Visit a Capitol Success for Willie Brown : Government: Assembly Speaker is well received by Washington insiders. But his agenda is thrown off stride by news that nine military bases in California are slated for closure.

En route to a Capitol Hill appointment, surrounded by his entourage of cellular phone-toting advance men, California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown paused when he heard a loud voice from behind--”Hey, Willie!”

Expecting another greeting from one of the hundreds of VIPs, friends and fans he met during a three-day trip to Washington, Brown turned to observe one janitor call out to another: “Hey Willie! What’s happening, man?”

Brown broke into a prolonged cackle that echoed through the spacious Hart Senate Office Building. The janitor, it seemed, was among the few Washingtonians who had no interest in embracing Brown, perhaps America’s most recognized black elected official.

Everywhere Brown ventured--in posh hotels, restaurants, congressional corridors, committee rooms and TV studios--during his visit that ended Wednesday, he was overwhelmed with bear hugs, kisses and animated slaps of hand.

Officially, Brown led a bipartisan delegation of 58 state legislators to lobby the Clinton Administration and Congress for federal funds to revive California’s economy. Their agenda was disrupted when they learned that nine military bases in California, representing 75,000 jobs, were slated for closure.

The Speaker also embarked on a personal mission of sorts. At 58, he proclaimed his interest in remaining an influential political figure--perhaps as a future Clinton appointee or even governor--for years to come. Voter-imposed term limits are scheduled to end Brown’s reign as Speaker in 1996.

In Washington, a city that gauges political power by the company you keep, the threads you wear and the dining establishments you frequent, Willie L. Brown Jr. is a major player. Nattily clad as always in his custom-tailored suits and a wide-brimmed, Italian-made black hat, Brown stylishly moved about town in a stretch limousine. Seven aides from his Assembly office attended to his every logistical need.

Brown buys none of the populist notion that public servants should carry their own suitcases and stand in lines like everyone else.

“How you live and what you do in your life from a personal standpoint has very little to do with impressions people get from your public performance,” he said in an interview. “I’m not required to prove my credibility by wearing a hair shirt.”

Brown never stopped moving from the moment his plane touched down Sunday to his hasty departure for New York on Wednesday afternoon to see his daughter, who gave birth Tuesday night--making Brown a grandfather for the first time.

On Monday, Brown met with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and seven Cabinet members, conducted numerous interviews, danced up a storm at the exclusive River Club and retired to the Mayflower Hotel to play blackjack with fellow legislators. He cut short a daylong series of appointments Tuesday because of an ailing shoulder before appearing on two national television talk shows and hosting a dinner bash for California state and federal lawmakers.

His schedule Wednesday included the first bipartisan meeting between California state and congressional legislators, a lunch with Sen. Carol Mosely-Braun (D-Ill.), and an hourlong White House group meeting with President Clinton that included a private stroll with the President back to the Oval Office.

During his chat with Clinton, Brown raised his plan to launch a pilot project of Administration programs in South-Central Los Angeles, and the President reacted enthusiastically to it, Brown aides said.

The state delegation consisted of 44 Assembly members, 14 state senators, Wilson Administration officials, Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, Controller Gray Davis and legislative staffers. The trip marked the first time that such a large contingent of Democratic and Republican officials traveled to Washington together. Expenses were paid through a combination of political campaign funds, government operating money and corporate sponsors.

The purpose of the trip, Brown said, was twofold: First, “I really wanted to teach the new people (and) to help create a bond between all of these Californians elected back here and appointed officials.”

Second, Brown said, he wanted to press the California agenda in Washington, which amounted to lobbying for money to finance the cost of immigrant services, health care, defense conversion, public works projects and education programs. Any hopes of accomplishing this were dashed by last weekend’s disclosure that nine bases in the state were targeted for closure.

“It has totally thrown us off stride,” Brown said. “We absolutely had no clue. We would have been far better prepared on base closure issues if we had had any clue.”

Now that Democrats control the Administration and Congress, Brown said he found it easier to gain entry into the corridors of power in the nation’s capital. His group met with nearly every Cabinet official it requested, although Brown’s heavy lobbying of Vice President Al Gore failed to produce an appearance at his Tuesday night dinner.

Brown found several opportunities to criticize his Sacramento rival, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

He told a meeting of feminist leaders that Wilson stood for “anti-women, anti-children” initiatives in state government. Asked to handicap the 1996 presidential race during a C-SPAN call-in show, Brown said Wilson’s name had been mentioned “maybe as a vice-presidential candidate (but) certainly not as President.”

Brown has raised his profile in recent months through his economic summit in Los Angeles and his lead role in negotiating a compromise to avoid a potential strike by Los Angeles Unified School District teachers.

Brown said he is seeking to develop cozy ties with the Clinton Administration both for his own benefit and the state’s. An admitted “latecomer” to the President’s team, Brown did not endear himself to Clinton during his last trip to Washington less than a year ago, when he publicly advocated that Democrats should consider drafting Perot as their presidential nominee if Clinton continued to struggle with character questions.

Now Brown said he intends to do everything in his power to help Clinton implement his policies and win California in the next presidential campaign, possibly in hopes of being considered for a high level appointment--even a Cabinet post.